Evening Star
by pacifica somnia
Summary: He didn't know anything about her, or she about him. Their friends hate each other. They're complete opposites. He's loud, she's quiet. He's a showoff, she stays in the shadows. But you know what they say, opposites attract. Doesn't mean it's easy though.
1. The Train Journey Part 1

**Hey, I hope this is okay. I've been waiting all day to upload this, and I'm sure French went extra slowly just to annoy me! This story is mainly Sirius/OC although there will be a few other pairings later on. Oh, and yes, I know that Cienna isn't really spelt like that and that it should be spelt Sienna but I like it this way. (Pronounced Sea-en-a) **

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><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

The platform was crowded with people. Farewells, reunions, all happening in a small, tightly packed space. A young teenage girl was sitting on one of the metal benches, watching and waiting. She was seemingly alone, and nobody paid her much notice. But she was content with it that way. She had always been a bit of an outsider, distancing herself away from others. Not purposely, in fact, often she was barely even conscious of doing so. She just preferred to think to herself, rather than out loud. For that, she reflected, was a big part of people's speech. To her it seemed highly unnecessary and a complete waste of precious time. As she was mulling this over, a whirlwind on the far side of the platform was racing towards her. Lily Evans was barrelling her way through the crowd as fast as she could for two reasons. One, she really wanted to see her best friend. Two, she was escaping.

She spotted the young girl sitting on the same bench that she sat on every year, and a smile broke out onto her face. She really had missed her.

"Cienna." Lily cried out as she practically jumped onto the younger girl. In fact, Cienna only just had time to stand up before being engulfed in a huge hug.

"Thank God you're there. I was getting so worried and he was just winding me up but I had to find you and oh..." Lily had to take a deep breath before continuing.

"He's such an arrogant toe-rag and yes, yes, I know he's your friend but still. He just goes out of his way to annoy me. And his friend, he's just...erugh!" Lily exclaimed, "I don't know how you manage to put up with him."

"He's not so bad." Cienna murmured, wanting to stick up for her childhood friend but not wanting to lie.

"Anyway, let's just forget about them. They're stupid, foolish, ungrateful, annoying twerps who need to grow up and get a life. Enough said." Lily ended this with a triumphant smile before looking at her watch and, exclaiming that they were going to miss the train, leapt away, with Cienna following in her footsteps.

Having already put her trunk on the train Cienna kept her eyes on the red head making her way through the crowd in front of her. A brief swell of excitement coursed through her as she took in the sight of the gleaming red train, but she pushed it down, reminding herself of her brother at home. Finally, having squeezed her way past everyone, she came to a compartment filled with teenage girls. All were extraordinarily beautiful in some way or another, and, as she slide open the door, all six of them looked towards her. Cienna gave a slight smile and, placing her shoulder bag on the floor, took the window seat that Lily always saved for her. The girls were deep in a conversation, and, not wanting to interrupt, Cienna contented herself with studying each one to see how they had changed over the long summer break.

Siting next to her there was Lily Evans, the golden girl of Gryffindor, and the envy of most of the female population in school. With her long, wavy red hair, almond shaped green eyes and her tall, slender figure there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was one of the prettiest girls at the school. But physical appearance was not what made Lily Evans so renowned. It was her kindness that she showed to everyone (apart from a certain messy haired boy and his accomplice) and the fact that although she was muggleborn, she was one of the brightest witches in the school, let alone the year. Cienna saw that her hair was an inch or so shorter, and that Lily herself was an inch or so taller. She smiled to herself, Lily hated being so tall, which in reality was only 5ft8, but in Lily's world was a big problem. She would often complain about how she had to refuse boys shorter than her, on the principle that it just wasn't right to go out with someone two inches shorter that her.

Next to Lily was a baby blue eyed pixie that went by the name of Alice Prewett. She was short, only 5ft4, with a curly blond bob and a tan little face. However, she wasn't to be crossed for she was very handy with hexes, and was always dying to try out new ones. She had been going out with Frank Longbottom since third year, and most of the year was making bets on when he'd propose.

Opposite Alice sat a stunner. That was the only word to describe Marlene McKinnon. With her long black hair, cat green eyes, never ending legs and everlasting tan, Marlene was a hit with the lads. She only had one rule. Never let a boy come between a good friendship. For Marlene most certainly valued her friends.

On Marlene's left was another enviably tanned girl. This tan, however, was gotten from spending hours outside playing quidditch. Mary Smith was a muggleborn and although she had spent two years trying to remember which way to hold her wand, she had taken to flying like a fish to water. Her nut brown eyes were always warm and friendly, and her chestnut hair, when down, was wavy and never, much to Alice's dismay, frizzy. She was talking animatedly to another quidditch freak.

Emmeline Vance was gorgeous. She was also tall like Lily, but was curvier, much to the boy's pleasure. Her hair was the colour of golden corn, and her eyes were like chocolate. She had the sort of effortless beauty that made anyone who saw her jealous. She also, treasured her friends, for her life at home was lonely. She wasn't unloved, quite the opposite. Her parents were mega rich, but had to work a lot. So she was often left home without anyone to play with as a child. Her parents were worried about what would happen when she went to school but they needn't have been. Bold as brass, Emmy had walked up to Alice and Mary, and since then had never spent a day alone again.

Lastly, opposite Cienna sat a shy looking girl with glasses. Dorcas Meadowes was the second quietist girl in the compartment. She had straight light brown hair, light green eyes and a gentle expression. Get her on a guitar however, and she transformed. No longer was she the shy school girl, but a musical genius. She was reading, but seeming to feel Cienna's gaze she looked up and sent her a smile, which was returned, albeit a fair bit smaller. Cienna didn't smile much. She didn't mean to be a downer or anything, just, it wasn't often that something made her happy enough to...No, don't go there she thought to herself, don't remind yourself of that again. And with her mental telling off over, she turned to the window and listened to her friends meaningless chatter as she watched the country pass her by.

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><p><strong>Right, hope it was okay. Please tell me if something doesn't make sense. I just wanted to get this out of the way, but I also wanted to introduce some of the main characters. Sorry if it was boring. And don't worry, trouble is in the next one!<strong>

**Megs**


	2. The Train Journey Part 2

**You guys will not know how amazed I was at the reviews for the other chapter. All I can say is thank you and I hope you enjoy. Oh, and the italics are thoughts.**

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><p>The slamming of the compartment door stirred Cienna, and she looked up from her book to see Lily, red in the face, glaring murderously at her. Cienna inwardly frowned. Only one person could get Lily that angry, and because she was the one getting death glares she had a fair idea of who it was. She sighed.<p>

"What has he done now?" she asked, hoping it wasn't too awful. She didn't expect it to be, Lily often over exaggerated when the Marauders, and especially James, were concerned. Then again, knowing James and his minions you could never be quite sure.

"He is a total tosspot Cienna. Do you know what I found him doing? Do you?"

"Well obviously I don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking you." Cienna said under her breath. Dorcas, having moved seats when Lily had left earlier, heard her and chuckled quietly.

"Potter was being an arrogant, good for nothing idiot. That's what he was doing. The fool was picking on the first years, scaring them, telling the muggleborns they had a huge test coming up, that they had to fight a dragon. And then he was worrying the purebloods, telling them they were going to end up in Slytherin. That's right. Don't you laugh Marlene. Don't you remember us before we were sorted? We were complete wrecks. Just imagine how the poor things must be feeling now." Lily finished this off with an indignant huff and dropped onto one of the free velvet seats, giving Cienna a pleading look.

"I know. It's wrong and mean and completely hypocritical, considering he was practically wetting his pants on the way when he was a first year. But what do you want me to do? You know he doesn't listen to me here. He's in his domain now. Figuratively speaking, he and the rest of them are the kings of the castle." Cienna ended this mini speech with another sigh, not enjoying where this conversation was heading. She and James had been friends since they were babies. Their mothers had been childhood friends and it just continued on with their children. Before Hogwarts they had been best friends. Before Black had entered the equation and ruined everything. Cienna's thoughts took on a gloomier turn and once again she got lost in them. Dorcas, noticing this, gave her a gentle elbow in the side, and Cienna jerked her head up in time to hear Lily saying that she should at least have another go at talking some sense into him, and that Cienna should go and find him before he could scare any more little first years.

"Looks like you won't have to go looking for him." Marlene remarked wryly, "They're heading this way. Can't you hear them?" True to her word, the boisterous laughter of the marauders was making its way slowly up the train. Cienna shuddered, Lily frowned and Dorcas dove back into her book. The door slide open.

"Hello ladies. Good summer. Of course, I've already caught up with my precious Lily-flower, but she disappeared before she could answer my question, didn't you Petal?" The familiar voice of Cienna's old friend floated into the compartment. She looked up as Lily flew into another of her quite violent rages, screaming at James, telling him her name was Lily, not any of those stupid nicknames he insisted on calling her. Everybody was used to these by now, although they always were rather amusing. James caught Cienna's eye and sent her a swift wink, to which Cienna returned a small smile, which was really more of a slight twitch to the lips. She hadn't seen James since the first week of the holidays, and she had missed him more than she would ever say. _Although he probably never thought about me._ He had grown again, and was now pushing 6ft4. He had also gained some muscle over the summer, and a tan. _What is it with people and tans this year? _But his messy hair was the same, as were his warm hazel eyes, slightly hidden behind his glasses. No matter what Lily said, it couldn't be denied, James Potter was a handsome guy.

"Lily love, you're not angry with me about the first years. I was only teasing them." James said, his face marred with an unfamiliar smirk. A smirk Cienna recognised and called, with hatred, the Black smirk.

"Angry, angry...Potter, you're despicable. You're just so...so..." Lily's face was red and she was practically fuming.

"Calm down Lily, it was just a joke. A rather cruel joke, but a joke all the same." The soft voice of Remus Lupin was heard as he pushed past James and sat down opposite Cienna, giving her a small smile which she returned with a slow blink. His smile grew wider. Out of all of the marauders, Remus was the one the girls liked most. He, was quiet, considerate, the perfect gentleman. Out of all the marauders he was the one Cienna spoke most to. Although that was only a sentence or so every couple of days. He had also grown, 6ft3, with tawny hair, and deep amber eyes that looked so much older than they were. That was something Cienna could relate to, being old before your time. She knew that it was because Remus was a werewolf that he looked so tired all the time. However, none of the girls knew this, and none of the boys knew that Cienna knew their little secret.

"Yeah, it was just a joke." Up piped Peter Pettigrew's voice. He had not changed. Poor little Peter, who was still short and slightly tubby, still the tag-along. He also had brown hair, light and thin, and little watery blue eyes. Cienna never felt very comfortable around him. She couldn't explain why, just that there was something off about him. But any thoughts off him were swept away when evil walked into the already cramped compartment. Evil by the name of Sirius Black.

Everybody knew that of the feud between Lily and James. It was easy. Lily hated James, whilst he loved her. He tried to get her attention and he did, but for all the wrong reasons. It was simple. Logical.

Nobody knew why Black hated Cienna, he just did. Cienna had only said one word to him in her whole life. Just one word. And it wasn't even offensive. But Black had taken a disliking to her and pranked her whenever he could, which was quite often. Sometimes they were cruel, sometimes they were humiliating. Most of the time however, they were just downright annoying. Not once did Cienna react. Lily did. Marlene did. Mary, Emmy, Alice and even Dorcas did. But she didn't. Nobody knew why that happened either. That was just how it was. Complex. Illogical.

Cienna took a moment to give Black a quick, searching glance. She never did see what all the fuss was about. Yeah, he was tall, but only 6ft5. Cienna knew taller. Yes, he did have a muscular build, but what do you expect from being a beater on the quidditch team with the psychotic James as a captain. He had longish black hair that looked almost too perfectly messy. Cienna privately thought that he must spend hours on it every day. His skin was tanned and he had a chiselled jaw. The only thing Cienna found remarkably fascinating about him were his eyes. They were a stormy grey and danced with mischief. But overall, Cienna decided that Sirius Black was nothing special, nothing special at all. So why was she getting an odd feeling in her stomach as his eyes caught hers for a moment? It was nothing, just hunger she told herself. But she didn't believe it.

Thankfully her attention was pulled away from her thoughts once again as Lily finally shooed the boys out of the compartment with the help of Mary, saying they needed to change and that if they didn't leave she'd have their eyes pecked out, a useful charm she had learnt last year. Cienna sighed with relief. She hadn't enjoyed that experience. She decided she'd avoid them at all costs when they got to school.

Unfortunately, that decision was broken before she even arrived at school. Due to an _accidental_ trip, James had managed to slam the door to their compartment shut and the girls were locked in for 5 minutes whilst the marauders fake fussed over James. This meant they had to share a carriage up to school which of course was a disaster in the making. Cienna gave her third sigh of the day as she clambered out of the carriage, massaging her temple with one hand. Lily and James hadn't stopped bickering for the entire journey, Marlene hadn't stopped yelling at them to shut up, and Black hadn't stopped staring at her. _To be honest, this has to go down as one of the worst journeys I have ever been on._ Cienna stopped by the thestrals to give them a quick pat and whisper telling them she'd see them later. The girls and James were used to this, but the other three were slightly confused. There was nothing there so what on earth was the girl doing? Cienna turned round before they could rid the question from their eyes and gave a sort of grimace. Of course they'd be confused; they'd never seen death before so they wouldn't see the gentle thestrals. All the same, she felt slightly irked. Hadn't they been taught that staring is rude. Black especially.

As they entered the Great Hall Cienna looked round, catching the eyes of a group of young men seated at the Gryffindor table. She smiled, her first real smile of the day, and hurried towards them, not looking to see if the girls were following her. She sat down next to one of them, still smiling. But that smile soon disappeared as she saw who had seated himself directly opposite her. Black. She made the name into a curse word, and turned away from him completely, missing his frown as she did so. But Remus didn't, and he resolved to ask Sirius about it later.

"Damn I'm hungry." Rumbled the voice of one of the guys sitting next to Cienna, bringing a smile back onto her face as she replied,

"You're always hungry Ollie. I'm surprised you haven't eaten us out of house and home yet. God knows you try." Now this would be considered a speech from her, if it wasn't for the fact that only the boys to the right of her heard it. Ollie chuckled before turning his attention to the song the sorting hat was singing and the sibling's smiles faded as, on hearing the song of unity and darkness, they realised the true meaning of it. They were quiet for the sorting and the rest of the meal, well, Cienna was. Ollie snapped out of it after about 10 minutes claiming that being depressed was boring. After the wonderful feast, Cienna made a mental note to go down and thank the house elves, they all rose and sluggishly made their way back to common room.

It was warm and bright, with a fire roaring and banishing all shadows away. That was why Cienna liked it so much. It got rid of the nightmares. As the boys wandered off to the sofas in front of the fire, Lily gave a small yawn and, biding goodnight to the rest, not including the marauders, made her way upstairs, Cienna following. This was their tradition. On the first day back they would go upstairs and talk to each other. Or rather, Lily would talk and Cienna would listen. And perhaps give advice if there was any that needed giving. As they plopped down onto their beds Lily launched into an account of her summer, telling Cienna of problems with her sister, with Potter, homework, and more Potter. Realising this would go on for a while, Cienna closed her eyes and smiling, thought of what a good couple James and Lily would make when he grew up and she realised that he had matured. That would be a sight.

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><p><strong>Again, please tell me if there were any mistakes. Cienna's apperence will be told in the next chapter, along with a bit of Sirius's POV.<strong>

**Megs**


	3. Great, just great

**Once again, only the OCs are mine.**

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><p>'<em>Waking up at 4 in the morning probably isn't the best thing to do first day back'<em> Cienna thought to herself as she crept around the dorm, trying not to wake the other girls. Grabbing her clothes she pushed open the door, slowly, slowly, just in case it creaked. Lily was a light sleeper; she would hear it and wake up. And Cienna didn't want anyone with her. Not that she didn't want the company, just the questions that were bound to come with it. She padded barefoot down the stairs, through the common room and out of the portrait hole, apologising to the fat lady for waking her up. She brushed it of however, as she was used to being woken up in the middle of the night by the quietly spoken young girl. Often Cienna would stay and chat for a few minutes but tonight she hurried on, not worrying about meeting any teachers because they also knew of her night time wanderings and accepted them. Not that they would be able to do anything to stop them.

Cienna reached her destination undetected.

"Serenity." She whispered to the portrait of the mermaid. She stepped in as it swung open, relaxing as the sight of the gleaming bathroom greeted her. After turning on the water taps Cienna was faced with a difficult decision. '_Vanilla' _she read '_lavender, mint, pineapple, strawberry...which one to choose?' _It was a pleasurable choice and soon she was settled down in a bathtub filled to the brim with hot water and vanilla bubbles. She looked up, through the glass dome roof and saw a red dawn. '_Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.' _She shuddered, remembering the dream. _'No, don't remember, forget. Forget it all.'_ So, she tried to. She focussed on the bubbles, their creamy colour, and their scent. Soon it was pushed to the back of her mind, ready to resurface the moment she tried to sleep. And Cienna, she once again got lost in her thoughts whilst her muscles relaxed in the steaming water.

"Water Child, Water Child, someone is coming." The portrait was double sided, and although the mermaid usually wouldn't talk to anyone, she was quite fond of the girl, and, knowing of her aversion to people, would warn her when someone was coming.

"Thank you Serenity." It was a little known fact that the password to the bathroom was the mermaid's actual name. In fact, that password to the bathroom wasn't common knowledge. Cienna wondered who could be coming as she hurried out of the bath and pulled on her clothes. She shoved the towel into a wicker basket, not having enough time to dry her hair, and realising she'd left her wand in her room, left it wet, hanging down her back in slowly curling strands. Grabbing her cloak she made to go down a small tunnel that would let her out on the fifth floor when she heard the portrait open and a voice call out,

"Wait, how the hell did you get in here?" Cienna's shoulders slumped. The one person she really didn't want to meet and she met him. Typical. She turned round, tense, and looked at Black, waiting for the scorning words that he was bound to say. But none came out. He just looked at her, surprise written on his face. No one spoke until Cienna, not trusting Black's newfound ability to stare, and getting just a little unsettled by it, made to move past him.

"You...no, wait, hey, kido...look I didn't..." But whatever he was going to say had no effect upon Cienna as she stepped smartly out of the bathroom and hurried down the corridor, hoping that she didn't have enough bad luck for Black to follow her. It seemed she didn't, and as she reached the seventh floor and walked up and down in front of a seemingly blank wall she thanked whatever deity was up there. A little door appeared and Cienna walked inside, picking a book up off the floor, curling up on a beanbag in front of a small fire and delving into the pages, staying there until it was time for her to meet her friends in the Great Hall for breakfast.

(Sirius POV)

He watched as she walked out, back straight, shoulders stiff. He wondered if her should follow her, but deciding that it would just cause more damage, didn't. As he settled into the tub that Cienna had been in just a few moments ago, he thought about what had just happened. '_What the...how did she even know this place exists? And what else does she know?' _His thoughts tumbled over each other like puppies, each racing to get his full attention.

He smiled, remembering her unusual appearance. Normally her hair was tied up, tie perfectly in place and no expression on her beautiful face. '_Wait, did you just call her face...beautiful. Sirius Black never says that someone is beautiful. Fit, or hot perhaps, maybe even cute, but not beautiful. Man up Black.' _A little voice in his head told him. '_But,' _he thought '_she is beautiful. Well, pretty. They all are, I suppose.' _It was true. The Gryffindor girls had a reputation for beauty, _all_ of them. But none of them attracted Sirius. Cienna only interested him...just a little.

Her auburn hair was long, mid-waist length at least, and was curly. Not corkscrew, or frizzy, but loose curls that flowed down her back like a waterfall. Her eyes were a mix of brown and green, like a hazel nut. They changed colour sometimes. Just small changes. Slightly greener when she showed any sort of emotion, slightly browner when she was emotionless, which was often. Her skin was creamy, flawless, a mix a roses and cream. And when she smiled, which was barely ever around him, it was light up her face. She wasn't really tall, 5ft6, but she was as slender and willowy as new sapling. But that wasn't the only reason she was...beautiful. She was kind, so kind, and gentle, intelligent, innocent. But quiet, so quiet and mostly expressionless. Her face was often masked.

He frowned as he pulled himself out of the minty bath water, remembering the look on her face before she had hid it. Realisation had turned to shock, disappointment, uneasiness and something else, fear maybe, before blankness took over. He felt something pulling at him, creating an urge he'd never really felt before. An urge to apologise. He shook his head. Sirius Black does not apologise. And what did he have to apologise for. Making her leave. She was getting ready to go anyway. _'Just forget about her. She's just a kid. A pretty kid who you don't really know or like.'_ Sirius followed the little voice in his mind, banishing all thoughts of her from his head and, looking to the clock in the bathroom, focused on one thing.

"BREAKFAST!" He yelled as he raced through the portrait, down the corridor and up the stairs. The Marauders always played a prank first day back. And this year's was better than any before. So he simply couldn't be late. As he raced up the seventh floor corridor he slammed into someone, pushing them to the floor. He didn't stop but called out over his shoulder,

"Mind where you're going next time." He hadn't seen who he'd pushed over, and he didn't really care. He arrived in front of the fat lady, and telling her the password, rushed into the common room, stopping in front of his three best friends who were just coming down from the boy's dorm.

"No need to worry gentlemen, your saviour is here!" He proclaimed, earning a pair of raised eyebrows from Remus, a snicker from Peter and a high five from James.

"You ready?" James asked.

"Ready." Sirius replied, a gleam in his eyes.

(Cienna's POV)

'_Great, just great.'_ She thought as she pushed herself up off the ground. '_That's twice I've bumped into Black today, and that's two times too many." _She sighed, walking down the corridor, limping slightly, and realising she'd have a bruise on her leg tomorrow. '_Great, just great.'_

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading everyone!<strong>

**Megs**


	4. He just is

**Thank you to everyone who took the time to review or put alerts on this. It makes me really happy! Right, I'll stop babbling on and just say that only the OC's are mine.**

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><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

Cienna sat down next to Mary, nodding her greetings to her friends as she reached out for an apple. Lily turned to her, seeing as Dorcas was engrossed in her book, Alice was engrossed in her food and the others weren't really morning people.

"Good morning Cee. We were waiting for you but Alice wouldn't stop going on about how hungry she was and I thought we'd bump into you on the way down but we must have just missed you and...What have you done to your head? Oh my god you're bleeding. Here take this and put on your head. No not there, there. Oh you need to go to Madam Pomfry. What do you mean no? It won't stop bleeding. Put some pressure on it. You need to go to the hospital wing. Don't be so stubborn." Lily rambled on worriedly. Cienna on the other hand wasn't fazed.

"It's just a scratch Lily. I've had worse."

"But it's still bleeding."

"It's because it's on her head Lily. If Cienna says its fine, it's fine. Stop worrying so much. You're gonna go grey." Mary intervened.

Lily looked at her, narrowing her eyes. Then, suddenly, she stood up and sped out of the hall.

Cienna sent a slightly inquisitive glance towards Mary as she stood up and hefted her bag onto her shoulder.

"Potter." One word was all it took for her to understand. She nodded her thanks and left, stopping only to collect her and Lily's timetables from Professor McGonagall.

"My, my, my. What, may I ask, happened to your head Miss Evenstar?"

"I tripped."

"Well. You should really go to the hospital wing but as you're walking and seem to recognise me, I'll take my chances with saying you'll be fine. I hope to see you and Miss Evans fresh and ready to learn in my class later."

And, after bestowing a rare smile on Cienna, Professor McGonagall swept away and Cienna hurried after Lily.

She found her sitting by the lake and sat down beside her, not saying a word.

"He's a prat. I hate him Cee. I really do. He continuously embarrasses me in front of everyone. He's rude, inconsiderate and...and...well, you know. He just...is." Cienna let Lily fume for a couple of minutes then passed her the timetable she'd forgotten to collect herself.

"Thank you. What did I do to deserve you as a friend?"

_`What did I do to deserve you?_` Cienna thought as she got to her feet and held out her hands for Lily to grab. As they headed off to Charms Cienna could tell Lily was feeling better because she was now fussing over the scratch Cienna had managed to obtain.

"How did you get it? And don't say you tripped because I know you Cienna Willow Evenstar and you are the most graceful person I've ever met."

Cienna sighed. She didn't like lying, especially not to friends. She decided to settle halfway.

"Someone was in a rush and knocked into me. Accidentally."

"Who?"

"I didn't see."

"Hmm." Lily wasn't convinced but let it rest as they entered Professor Flitwick's classroom and took seats next to each other near the front. Mary, Dorcas and Emmy sat on Lily's right and they smiled as the girls slipped in beside them. Unfortunately for Lily her day was about to get worse. For just moments after the class settled down, in walked the marauders, late of course.

Lily grimaced as most of the girls started chattering, giggling and fluttering their eyelashes at Hogwarts most popular heart throbs. She glanced at Cienna. Her face was curiously blank and her eyes were clouded, like she wasn't really there at all. Lily was about to ask her what was wrong but her attention was drawn away as Professor Flitwick started his start of year speech.

Charms passed quickly, with minimal interferences from the marauders and soon the girls were hurrying away to potions.

"Great. Now I've got to spend two hours in the company of the slimy Slytherins before I can get anywhere near food. My life is over."

"Quit your complaining Mary. Honestly, I've never seen a girl eat so much. How do you stay so skinny? And don't worry about the snakes. Old Sluggy's not going to give us a seating plan so we'll stay well away from them kay?"

However, the whole class was incredibly surprised when Old Sluggy stopped them from taking a seat.

"Due to some disturbances last year I have decided to give the class a seating plan this year. Don't you worry, you're going to get on with your new partners just fine. Now, Miss Smith, if you please, and Mr Pettigrew."

Cienna listened for her name. She didn't mind the Slytherins that much. They just ignored her so she did the same to them. In fact, there was only one person she didn't want to sit next to and what was the chance...

"Mr Black and Miss Evenstar over here please. Quickly now, we don't have all day."

_Damn._ Cienna thought. Lily sent her a swift glance, having gotten a seat next to Remus. _Well, I guess being Slughorn's favourite does have its advantages. _

She sat in her allotted seat, staring to the front of the room, not acknowledging the young man next to her. Professor Slughorn started on another one of his long, boring speeches. Realising that this wasn't going to be a practical lesson, Cienna let his words drift over her, lulling her mind into the land of pretty daydreams which oddly enough involved shearing off Black's hair with rusty shears, and a big bottle of pink hair dye. _Happy dreams. _Cienna thought as she jotted down the homework that had been set before rushing to the door.

"Library?" Dorcas asked. Cienna nodded.

"But you haven't eaten anything yet. Cienna...hey." Lily was ignored by the two young girls pushing their way through the crowd.

"Let it go Lils, let it go." Came the wise words from Alice. "Because I am starving!"

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Alice squealed as her boyfriend came up behind her.

"Makes you sick doesn't it." Marlene whispered to Mary as they all followed the young couple.

xXx

The library was quiet, much to Cienna's pleasure. Dorcas settled down, got out her potions essay and rifled through her guide to potions whilst Cienna, deciding that homework could wait a few minutes whilst she found a new reading book, wandered off.

Three quarters of an hour later Dorcas lifted her eyes from her essay to look for Cienna. Noticing she wasn't there she smiled. Only Cienna could lose track of time in a library!

"Cienna." She called softly as she packed her things away. "Cee, where are you?"

"Here." A soft voice murmured. The speaker stepped out of the shadows.

"What were you doing there?"

"Hiding."

"From who? And why? Nobody who comes into the library ever bothers you. Not even the Slytherins."

"My new potions partner."

"Ah." Dorcas understood, yet was still confused. Why would Sirius Black be in the library? Cienna knew what she was thinking and raised her eyebrows slightly. Dorcas knew the look and smiled. Girls. Lily and Cienna had a special look for the marauders "Fan girls" as they were known.

"Come on. McGonagall is next so we can't be late. She won't hesitate to dock points from her own house as we all well know thanks to the marauders. And don't worry about the seating plan she makes. She has a soft spot for you. You'll end up next to me or Lily or one of the others. Promise."

xXx

"Promise?" Cienna asked, her tone slightly bitter. Not only did she have to sit with Black for potions, but for transfiguration too. She closed her eyes and massaged her temple, wincing as her fingers brushed the cut from earlier. Her day couldn't get worse.

"First day back and you're already looking as though you're contemplating suicide. Whatever has gone wrong sis?" Ollie sat down next to Cienna, smiling slightly.

"Black."

"Hm?"

"She means Black was what went wrong. She has to sit next to him in potions and transfig. And you know what he's like. It'll be a miracle if she survives without mental problems." Marlene finished this off with a slight smirk. She pitied her friend, but also Black. Cienna had a temper although it was usually hidden. But she had a feeling that this year Cienna was going to lose control of it. And how much fun that would be to watch.

"Don't worry my lovely. He does anything to hurt you he'll have us to answer to. Kay?" She nodded her thanks as Ollie and his friends got up and left. Her attention was brought back to Lily as a plate piled high with food was pushed towards her.

"Eat." It wasn't a question, it was a command. Lily, although gentle and kind and loving, could be downright scary when she wanted to and as this was one of those times, Cienna said nothing but started to work her way through the pile of mashed potato and chicken pie.

After they'd finished they made their way to the common room, exchanging greetings with the fat lady on the way in. They nabbed some seats by the fire, and as most of them settled down to gossip, Cienna got out her charms work. Her friends said nothing; they knew that she was listening and that if she wanted to say something she would.

Loud raucous laughter startled Cienna somewhat. She glanced up at Lily and read in her face what she already knew. The marauders had just entered the room. Cienna flicked her eyes towards the stairs to the girl's dorm to let them know where she was going, then stood up and left, slipping through the packed room unnoticed.

Her just vacated seat was immediately taken by her old friend as he once again tried to woo his love into admitting her feeling for him. He ended up with a book thrown at his face as Lily stormed up the stairs, her face as red as her hair.

(Sirius POV)

"Idiot. She isn't going to fall for you if you act like that. You're just being a twit." Sirius said, still chuckling as he watched his best friend rub his nose and try to mend his glasses at the same time. "Give them here." He took out his wand and fixed them before handing them back. James smiled his thanks, and then frowned.

"What would you know? You've never had a proper, successful girlfriend, just a load of flings."

"Yeah well it's more fun that way. Isn't that right Moony?"

"How would I know? I've never had either, and before you say, no I don't want either. And you know why."

"What's going on here lads?" They looked up as Ollie Evenstar joined the group.

"Just talking about how Evans refused Prongs here yet again. This time with a book."

"Ouch, nasty."

"More amusing really." Remus, Ollie and Frank snorted as James picked up the book he'd so recently been hit with and chased Sirius around the common room, yelling at him whilst doing so. Finally they collapsed, out of breath in front of the fire.

"I've got to give it to you James, congrats for still trying. I mean, it's been what three years now, four?" Ollie said, still chuckling.

"Four years, 8 months and 17 days." James replied proudly.

"Saddo." Sirius muttered.

"You see," Ollie carried on, "You keep on trying even though it's impossible. I mean, you have more of a chance trying to get Sirius to persuade Cienna to go out with him. And everyone knows that'll never happen." He laughed again, not seeing the look in Sirius's eyes.

"Never you say? Fancy a bet on that?" He asked.

"Alright. Seeing as we're both loaded, 100 galleons says you won't be going out by the end of the school year."

"You're on, and what if she's going out with me before the end of the Easter term."

"I'll make it 200 and throw in my broom for good measure."

"Done." They shook hands and Ollie wandered away whilst commenting on how this was easy money.

"You do realise what you've just done don't you mate?" James asked.

"Yeah. I'm Sirius Black. No woman can resist me for long. I'll just turn on the charm and there we go, easy as."

"Don't hurt her mate, I'm warning you. She's a good friend and I don't like seeing my friends get hurt."

"Don't worry. What can go wrong?" Sirius answered. _`Nothing,`_ he thought,_ `it's going to be as simple and easy as taking candy from a baby.`_

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><p><strong>Hoping that wasn't too awful. I enjoy writing with Ollie so much. He always makes me laugh.<strong>

**Anyway. As always tell me if something doesn't seem right.**

**Thanks,**

** Megs**


	5. Growing up

**The OCs are mine, everything else is the work of the wonderful woman, J. K. Rowling**

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><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

"_He could not bear any careless loitering, and waste of time; and nothing was so near making him angry as to find..." _Cienna lifted her head from her book, tilting it to one side whilst trying to hear if anyone was actually coming down the stairs.

"I must be mad." She whispered, then chuckled humourlessly and delved back into her book.

"Cee?" Startled, Cienna spun her head round so quickly she heard her neck click. She grimaced, and then looked at who had surprised her though she knew who it was.

"James, why are you here?"

"Couldn't sleep. What time is it?"

"Half three."

"Ouch. How long you been up for?"

"Since half one."

James, sighing, made his way over to the sofa and plopped down next to Cienna. She placed her bookmark in the book and set it down, leaning back to look at James. He looked straight back at her then smiled.

"You look like a kitten sitting there, all curled up." Cienna raised her eyebrow but she gave a slight smile.

"Are you okay James?" She asked. He heard the concern in her voice and looked at her, looking at her face for what he knew would be there. And it was. There was the little frown just creasing her forehead. And there was her lip caught between her teeth yet again. And her eyes, normally so empty, were filled with worry.

"I'm fine Cee, honest. You go back to reading and I'll just doze off here."

"I thought you couldn't sleep? You should go to bed."

"Keeping you company. And you send me to sleep."

"Thanks."

"I mean you're peaceful. It's nice, relaxing...and you don't snore like Peter which is always a bonus!"

"Go to sleep James." And with that Cienna went back to her book whilst James' eyelids drooped and closed. After a while she felt his head drop on her shoulder and she shifted slightly so he was more comfortable, and made a mental note to wake him up before any of the students would wake up and see them. There wasn't anything going on but the student body could make the most innocent of things into a vicious rumour.

(Sirius's POV)

"Oih, wake up. Padfoot, did you hear me? WAKE UP!" Sirius shot up out of his bed, colliding with a bed post and falling back down onto the bed again. Looking around he spotted the cause of his troubles bent over, clutching at his stomach.

"Thanks Prongs. Always a pleasure to be woken up by you." Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he stormed off to their bathroom.

"Damn, I am one good looking wizard." He said, looking into the mirror.

"Talking to yourself again mate. First sign of going crazy that is. Oh, and by the way, I much prefer Moony over here." Sirius didn't respond vocally, instead he chucked a conveniently placed shoe at his best friend.

"Ouch. Okay, I admit it. I'm secretly in love with you. Happy now?"

"Much better." Sirius walked out of the bathroom and smiled. He may hate getting out of bed in the morning but one thing did make up for it.

"Breakfast time boys."

They arrived at the Great Hall in style. Well, three of them did. Peter was trailing behind, complaining as per usual. As they walked over to the Gryffindor table Sirius heard girls and whispering and sighing. They sat down next to the other girls in their year. Remus immediately started talking with Dorcas, and Peter and James started loading their plates high with food. But Sirius had an odd nagging feeling in his stomach, like something was missing.

He ignored it and started eating, shovelling food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten for days.

"You're disgusting Black." Sirius looked over to his best mate's future wife and inquisitively raised his eyebrows.

"You're eating habits are awful. There is no need to fill your mouth like that. It's just plain repulsive. I don't see why any girl could possibly lust after you."

"Ah, that's a good question Lily m'lovely. And speaking of girls, where may I ask, is my dearest sister?" Ollie had sat down and was leaning round James to talk to Lily.

_Titch. That's who's missing. Wonder where _she _is?_ Sirius thought, pausing briefly to hear Evans' answer.

"I don't know. She wasn't in the common room this morning. Do you want me to send out a search party?"

"Nah, she'll turn up. She's probably just thinking."

(Cienna's POV)

Cienna was sitting by the Black Lake, under the old oak tree. This was her favourite spot to sit and think. It was quiet, peaceful, empty, which was what she needed. She loved Hogwarts, but sometimes she felt crowded, trapped in there. She needed fresh air, a breeze, the smell of the forest and the grass before she stopped feeling caged in.

She sighed. Lessons. She enjoyed them but not who she had to sit with. Black. Just one word could ruin her day. She thought about this as she got up and started walking up to the castle. It was highly illogical. Why was she bothered by him? Was it because he stole her friend? No, she had always known that James would make friends; he was that kind of person. And it wasn't like Black had stolen him from her. James was best friends with Remus and Peter too, as well as good friends with Frank, Fabien and Gideon. And although she hated his womanising ways, arrogance, rudeness, cruelness and his stupid pranks that he thought were funny but actually were not, they weren't good enough reasons to dislike him so badly that she would often go out of her way to avoid him.

Upon hearing the chatter of school children she put the matter to the back of her mind. She had History of Magic first, a class that for some odd reason she really enjoyed, much to her friend's delight, as it meant they could doze for the 2 hours lesson whilst she took the notes. It was such a peaceful class.

"Cienna, there you are. Why weren't you at breakfast?" Lily demanded as soon as she saw that Cienna was sitting down near the back of the class. The young girl opened her mouth but a figure pushed past Lily and butted into the conversation before she had the chance to reply.

"Bless you love, keeping seats for us. Isn't she lovely boys? 'Scuse Evans, the kid's been saving us our seats."

"Black, I swear if your butt so much as touches one of those chairs I will personally hex it into next week. And stop calling her "the kid," her name is Cienna, although you will call her Evenstar. Understand."

"Oooh, feisty. I've always liked a girl with a bit of fire. You know pet, if it wasn't for the fact that you're my best mates' soul mate I'd quite easily make you one of my regular partners."

"I would never, ever, EVER be caught snogging you Black. Now MOVE." This scream seemed to scare Black off, but only to the row behind them. Lily took her seat, silently fuming and thinking up ways which she could get back at Black. Cienna knew she was doing this, because Cienna knew Lily, and unlike most people, she also knew that there was a troublesome side to Lily which sometimes just could not be contained. These times most often included one of two things: The Marauders or revenge. Unfortunately for the rest of the girls, this time included both.

"I have an idea." This statement came from Lily as they exited the History of Magic classroom and started down the corridor to Potions.

"Merlin save us..." Marlene smirked as Emmy moaned about Lily's devious ideas, "What now? Pray tell us Lily, what exactly is your next great idea that's bound to get me, Mary and Alice in trouble?"

"Come on Emmy, that was only once...or twice. But it's your own fault for not looking out for Peeves, I mean, we all know how he is, trying to get everyone and anyone into trouble. You just shouldn't have been hanging about for so long."

Although Emmy opened her mouth to retort another voice, a decidedly more masculine voice, took its place.

"Talking about me again Evans? Didn't your mother tell you that talking behind people's backs is rude? However, because it's you, I'll make an exception." Cienna shook her head. James was taking stupidity to a new level.

"Come on guys, shut up and get in." Mary, sick of the arguing between her captain and her best friend, was for once trying to get everyone into a lesson on time. Cienna narrowed her eyes slightly. Dorcas patted her hand and walked in. She took a deep breath, promising herself that she would ignore Black. _Here goes nothing_, she thought.

(Sirius's POV)

"I don't get it mate. She doesn't say anything, just sits there and writes those pointless notes. I mean, how am I meant to get her to go out with me if she won't even acknowledge me huh?" Sirius was frustrated. It had been two weeks and she still acted as though he didn't exist. It wasn't just his money on the line here, but his pride. Sirius Black was known to have had a decent kiss off every girl in the school above fourth year bar one. Evenstar. Admittedly, Evans and the rest had been blind drunk that night, and they couldn't remember the kiss but still, it's the point that counts.

"I don't know Pads, I've tried everything. Flowers, chocolate, cards, gifts, romantic proposals, those awful lovey-dovey songs. Why won't she say yes, just to one date?" James was too caught up in his own woes to realise that him and his best friend weren't talking about the same girl. Remus smiled softly to himself.

"Maybe if you both grew up a bit they might take a little more attention of you. James, Lily always says how immature you are and how she hates that. And Sirius, just...I don't know, quieten down. Why did you even take up this stupid bet? You're going to lose."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence mate. Nice to know that my friends _support _me!"

"Grow up you say. That's settled it Pads. We are going to mature. We can do that. It's easy, isn't it?" James frowned for a moment, then shook his head and turned to Remus. "How am I going to grow up again?"

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><p><strong>Thanks again for reading and reviewing. It really does mean a lot.<strong>

**Megs**


	6. Pain

**I know, I'm a awful person. I'm not going to make excuses. Now this is just a little warning. At the end of the last chapter I said that the prank would be in this one. Well, I'm sorry but it's not. That's because I got to a point and realised that something else suited this chapter mush better. The prank will be soon. Promise. Everything apart from the OC's belong to J.K Rowling.**

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><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

Prank.

The one word was written in bold on the top of a long piece of parchment that lay on the middle of Lily's bed. The seven friends sat looking at it, racking their brains for ideas that they just couldn't come up with.

"You've got to admit, those boys must have some brains in their heads if they can come up with so many different ideas. I mean, _we _can barely come up with one." Admiration could be heard clearly in Marlene's voice.

"It can't be too hard." Dorcas spoke up, "We're just working the wrong way. Instead of just trying to come up with ideas we should be doing this logically, with definitions and lists and the like."

"Nothing can stop you from having your lists, can it Cassi?" Fondness, friendliness, the two emotions in Lily's voice. "Now, anyone know the definition of prank?" Everyone's heads swung towards Cienna. A sigh. Then her hand reached out for the parchment, taking a quill from behind her ear. A slight pause, then a lowering of her head and hand. For the next few moments all that could be heard was the scratching of the quill. Emmeline looked over Cienna's shoulder. On the page, written in small, neat handwriting, was a dictionary perfect description of the word.

Prank

verb (used with object)

1. To dress or adorn in an ostentatious manner: _They were all pranked out in their fanciest clothes. _

_verb (used without object) _

2. To make an ostentatious show or display.

_Origin: _

1540 – 50; akin to Dutch _pronken _to show off, strut, _pronk _show, finery, Middle Low German _prank _pomp

prank

"a trick," 1529, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to obsolete prank decorate, dress up," from M.L.G. prank "display" (cf. also Du. pronken, Ger. prunken "to make a show, to strut"). Prankster is attested from 1927.

Commonly used as an informal word for a practical joke.

Without saying a word Cienna pushed the parchment back into the middle of the bed, satisfied with her work.

"Great. Now, we make a list of possible ideas for pranks, a list of things the boys don't like or are secretly scared of, and a list of things that links these two lists together." A smile from Dorcas.

"Ehh." Mary, confused. The rest of the girls (bar one) laughed. Cienna blinked.

"Cienna."

"Hmmm." Turning to face Lily.

"Didn't you say you'd see Hagrid this evening? Because it'll be dark soon, and I don't like the thought of you walking back through the grounds in the dark." _Lily. Always the worrier, the mother hen who none of us could live without. If only she knew how much I am out in the dark. But she's always asleep, all of them are. Lucky people._

"I'll be back soon." The first words she had said all evening.

"What about dinner? Cee, you haven't eaten all day."

"I'll get something at Hagrid's Lils." A small smile as she went out of the door.

Down the stairs, counting every step. 1, 2, 3, 4...61, 62. The common room was surprisingly quiet, considering the marauders were there in full force, as well as her brother and his friends. One of the said friends, Heath, looked up and grinned at her. She sent him a small wave but didn't go over. Black was there. And she was trying to stay away from him. Hence going to see Hagrid more often than usual.

She made her way to the front doors quickly. Those who saw her pass took no notice. As far as they were concerned she was just another quiet kid, nothing special. And that was just the way she liked it.

Although it was the end of September it was an uncommonly warm evening. Cienna walked briskly down to Hagrid's hut, enjoying the walk but not lingering. She knew that the half giant would be busy outside and she didn't want to waste the evening wandering whilst she could be helping someone.

"Ah, Cienna. Jus' the person I wan'ed ta see. I'm jus' diggin' up sum of 'em 'tatoes. Should go nicely wit' ma tea tomorra." Hagrid beaming down at Cienna with a great smile on his ruddy face.

"Hey Hagrid. How are you today?" Cienna asked this as she picked up a shovel leaning against the hut. She never held her tongue with Hagrid. For some reason she felt secure with him, like she did whenever she was with any animals.

"Fine, fine. Gotta new load o' Nifflers today. Lil' buggers keep diggin' up the gar'en for some o' dat gol' they like. See em in a mo if yer'd like?"

"Yes please Hagrid." A smile.

Digging up the potatoes was hard work. The mud was wet, and the potatoes were deep below the surface. Still, Cienna was sitting on a big chair with a basket full of the dirty little lumps next to her, drinking a cup of warm pumpkin juice, watching the sun go down over the lake with a niffler on her lap and Hagrid babbling on about the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest.

"I tell yer Cienna they're seriously misun'erstood creatures. Not a spot o' trouble they cause me. Not like em damn nifflers like the one on your lap. Still dun't 'derstand how you can ge' em to sit so still. S'like you got some deep magic in yer blood. Then again, wouldn't be a 'prise would it? Mebe it's cause yer so quiet."

"Maybe Hagrid. But all animals seem to like me. Just luck I guess. Lucky for me anyway. How else would I be able to care for them if I couldn't get near them?"

Cienna was thanking her lucky stars inside her head. She loved animals, but not for the same reasons as everyone else. She didn't care whether they were pretty, or had soft fur and cute whiskers. She liked them because they seemed to understand her. Maybe she was crazy, but sometimes she swore she could hear their voices inside her head. _No,_ she shook her head, _that _is _crazy talk. I don't need to worry my parents any more than they already are._

Smiling softly she stroked the niffler on her lap. It sniffed her hand inquisitively, searching for something shiny. She gently pushed its head away from the silver ring on her middle finger.

"Not that little one." She murmured. Nifflers were misunderstood creatures too. Everyone thought they were crazy for gold and the like but that wasn't true...really. They liked shiny objects, but if you treated them gently and with kindness they wouldn't hurt anyone. People had been bitten by them before, but only because they had been stupid enough to try and harm the poor nifflers. James was scared of them.

She chuckled to herself. Then stopped. Thought about something, looked down, and then thought again. A smile rose to her face, growing bigger until it hovered at the grin mark.

"Wha'd yer be beamin' 'bout?"

"Just an idea Hagrid. I need to go now but I'll be back tomorrow, kay?" Cienna, bursting with ideas, couldn't wait to tell them to the girls.

"Kay. Goodnigh'." Cienna deposited the niffler into the box with the rest of its family, patted Fang, Hagrid's giant boarhound, and rose to give Hagrid a light kiss on the cheek, then sprinted up to the castle doors, safe in the knowledge that no one would see her outside. It was after hours, and even if she was spotted, she thought it was too dark for any normal person to make out her features.

xXx

(Sirius's POV)

Sirius got up and stretched, causing a group of fourth year girls behind him to giggle. A sigh escaped him as he looked round. All evening the four of them had been trying to think up ways to get the attention of the two girls.

_Why James doesn't give up on Evans I don't know. I mean, he's almost got as many girls lining up for him as there are for me. And he doesn't have any money riding on it. Just his pride._

_I on the other hand, have money riding on this. A _lot_ of money...And my pride. _

He wandered over to the window. It was pretty dark outside but the moon was bright. There would be a full moon soon. _Good. I've been missing our night time wanderings._ They hadn't been out with Remus over the holidays and Sirius especially was getting restless.

His stomach rumbled. They'd missed out on dinner and he was getting hungry. Walking over to James he bent down and whispered to him. James nodded and stood up.

"Hey, we're just going to get something to eat. You guys want to come?" James questioned the others.

"I've got to finish my charms thanks. Can you bring something back?" Remus asked whilst bent over his essay.

"Yeah, sure. What about you Wormy?" James turned to Peter.

"I...I should really finish this divination work...bring me some back too?" Peter asked hopefully.

A nod from James then he and Sirius strode across the room.

"Wait a minute, we're gonna need the map the map if we're bring back food. Don't want to bump into anything nasty that's bound to give us detention." After saying this James sprinted back up to the boy's dormitory.

Sirius looked out of the window again as he waited. The lights in Hagrid's were on, glowing against the inky sky. There was a small figure running up to the school. _Wait...what? Barely anyone goes out after curfew and even if they do go out, they don't go outside, do they? _Sirius racked his brains trying to think of anyone who would be outside in the dark. _Nope, no one. _

"Ready." James appeared at his side. "What you looking at Pads?"

"Someone's outside...after curfew...in the dark. Who goes out after curfew in the dark for Merlin's sake?"

"We do." A moment of hesitation before James's smart remark told Sirius he knew something, but the fact that James didn't tell him whatever he knew told Sirius that there was no way he was going to know what it was. Still, he had to tear himself away from the window. He wanted, no, needed to find out who that person was, and what they were doing.

_They say curiosity killed the cat. Poor cat. I'm more of a dog guy anyway._

James made a mental note to tell Cienna to watch her back out there. Once Sirius got hold of something he wouldn't let go.

xXx

(Cienna's POV)

"Right, so now that's settled we better go to the library to look up those spells." Lily looked positively excited at the prospect. It was Saturday morning and most of the girls were still in bed. Only Lily and Cienna were up.

"Come on Lily. It's Saturday. You know..._lie in day!_ I am _not_ getting up at this ungodly hour to go to the fricking library." Mary wasn't happy about being woken up at 8 'o' clock.

"No need to be rude. Anyway, I was talking to Cee. Just go back to sleep and we'll see you bedbugs at lunch." Lily waited for a reply but all she got was a snore.

"Come on Cee." The smile on Lily's face was wiped off at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh no. Cienna, what are _they_ doing up this early?" A shrug showed the young girl had no answer.

The cause of Lily's misery was the two most infamous marauders. They were sitting on the couch in front of the fire, laughing and joking with each other. Straightening her shoulders, Lily marched past, Cienna following in her wake. All went well until they reached the portrait hole. Then...

"Oih, Lily-flower. I want my morning kiss. And make sure it's a big one."

_Oh James, why do you always have to mess it up huh? _Cienna shook her head, but watched with interest and shock as Lily slowly turned round. Instead of launching into a rant she cocked her head to one side and smiled coyly at James. Cienna blinked. James's jaw dropped and Black's eyebrows rose.

Lily walked forward, slowly, precisely, looking at James from underneath her eyelashes. Then, bending down, she whispered in James's ear,

"You want a kiss, right? Well, I been wanting to give you a kiss for a while too but I've just been waiting for the right time." She drew back and straightened up. A smirk plastered itself onto James's face before Lily's closed fist landed.

Blood spurted out of his nose.

"Ouch. What the hippogriff did you do that for?" James shouted.

"You are the most arrogant, insufferable, disgustingly piggish prat I have ever met and I wish more than anything else that you had never entered this world!" Lily, starting off controlled slowly worked her way up to a nice loud volume that an army trainer might use when shouting at new recruits. The final touch was her slamming the portrait behind her after storming out of the room.

Cienna's eyes widened. She was torn between two friends. James looked up, blood on the front of his top. His eyes showed no recognition, just anger. He needed someone to blame and the perfect person was standing right in front of him.

"What are you still standing there for freak? Collecting information to give back to your precious Lily? Honestly, the way you follow her around like you can't be without her is disgusting. You are disgusting. Always moping, always depressed. You're pathetic, always taking everything for granted. For Merlin's sake you're in a year above what you should be in. Then again, that's probably only 'cause you bribed the teachers. What favours did you have to give to Dumbledore before he let you in huh? Because you're certainly not clever enough to be here. You're filth."

The venom in his voice was terrifying.

"You know what? It's your fault Lily won't even speak to me properly. It's you whispering in her ear, telling her that I'm not good enough. It's 'cause you want me all to yourself isn't it? Well, you know what I say to that. No WAY. You're sick you know that. Sick minded and selfish. You act like you care about everyone when in reality you just want all the attention. That's why you keep on rejecting Sirius isn't it. Don't you see yourself? Can't you see nobody really likes you? They hate you. The only reason they stay around is because of the money. That's the only reason why I've put up with you and your pathetic self-pitying act for so long. But it's over. I'm done with you. I HATE YOU! You're a stupid, ugly, self absorbed freak. I pray every night that I will wake up to hear you're dead. Because I can't stand you. You always go on about how a mistake was made ten years ago. And you're right, there was a mistake. You lived when you have died. Everyone would be happier with him here. You want to know something secret. Every single day I wish that I could change the past, to swap you two round. BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE HIM HERE RIGHT NOW, NOT YOU. And I wish to everything that you were dead instead of him, because he didn't deserve it...and you do."

Silence.

James's face was red from the effort of shouting with a broken nose. His breathing was heavy, his face fixed in a sneer. Black was still sitting down, seemingly frozen in place. Students, woken up by Lily's earlier shrieking stood still, eyes wide, mouths gaping open. Remus and Peter looked appalled. Cienna's friends stood stock still, horrified. Lily, who had come back in after realising that Cienna hadn't followed her, was pale, shaking. She had heard the whole thing. The 7th year boys were at the foot of the stairs, staring at Cienna, waiting for some sort of reaction to show that she was alive.

What they saw. Nothing. No emotion. Everybody waited. The minutes seemed like hours. Everyone's gaze was fixed on the statue in the middle. Frozen in place. Nothing was heard but the harsh breathing of the statue's childhood friend. Cienna's face seemed like marble, showing none of the pain she felt.

Because she did feel pain. A ripping sensation. The feeling was not new, but the pain didn't seem to diminish with time. It was paralyzing. No words could describe it. Fracturing, tearing, _breaking._ It was worsening, ripping her heart apart bit by bit and smashing those bits into tiny needle sharp icy shards and sticking those into her entire body. She felt cold, colder than she had felt in years. She told herself to breath, in, out, in out. She couldn't concentrate on it. It wasn't good enough, not calming enough. There was a fire inside her, starting at her fingers and toes, working its way inwards, towards her heart.

It reached it. Fire met ice. Two opposites colliding. A new pain. Harsher, crueller. Burning yet freezing. It clouded her mind, made everything seem hazy. No focus. She was dying, she had to be. The pain grew and grew, ripping her to shreds, and then putting her together to rip her apart again. Dimly she realised that she was barely breathing. Her throat seemed blocked. Why? She burned and she froze and she realised that there had to be an end to it. A barrier that, when broken by the pain, would break her. That couldn't be allowed. To be broken was to die. One thought entered her mind. She grasped onto it like it was a lifeline. _Run._ So she did.

She spun on her heel and sprinted out of the room, down the stairs, pushing past people in her way. That one word repeating itself like a mantra in her head. _Run, run, run, run, run._ Racing through the doors. Running against the wind. _Run, don't stop running, just run. If you run fast enough they can't catch you. _But that wasn't true. She realised that she couldn't run much further. She stopped, looked around. She was deep in the forest, by a small glade with a clear pool in the centre. It was surrounded by willows, oaks and pines. She sank down to her knees by a large tree. Looked up at the sky. _If you run fast enough they can't catch you._ But everybody has to stop running sometime.

And they caught her.

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><p><strong>Shocking right? Well, maybe just a little bit then. As always, thanks for reading and tell me if anything is wrong.<strong>

**Megs **

**xx**


	7. Snuffles

**I feel so bad for Cienna, and for James, poor guy. He really does take a beating in this chapter! OCs are mine - nothing else.**

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><p>(Sirius's POV)<p>

He was dumbfounded. So shocked by his best friend's behaviour that he couldn't move. Finally he flicked his eyes up to the victim of James's fury. Her face, so blank to everybody else, told him something. It told him that they were, in some sense, the same. Because he knew that façade. Because he'd mastered it too.

_You can't take a speech like that and show no emotion without practise. _His heart sank, although he didn't notice it.

He realised that James was still yelling. Everything in him wanted to jump up, to clamp his hand over James's mouth and tell Evenstar that he didn't mean it, that he was just angry. A rustling behind him alerted him to the rest of the Gryffindors presence. He caught sight of Remus's face. He looked appalled.

Finally James stopped speaking and just panted like he had run a marathon. Blood was still trickling down his face and shirt. In all of Sirius's life he had never seen James so angry, so violent, and so keen to inflict pain upon another person. And this wasn't just another person. This was Evenstar, one of James's _best _friends. And that scared him, just a little.

However, after looking at her it wasn't James he was cautious of. Looking at her face was frightening. What James had said to her was just as bad as what his parents had said to Sirius himself, and he didn't even like them. It would not just be the words that were hurting her, but the fact that it was James who had said them.

And yet, still she showed nothing. No emotion, no feeling. No tears, no anger. Blank. Like a mask. And _that_ was frightening.

(James's POV)

He panted, trying to get enough oxygen into his lungs to breathe properly. It was calming, breathing. In, out, in out...He remembered that Cienna had once said something about that.

Cienna.

His eyes, clouded with anger and hatred, slowly cleared. The red mist inside his head dispersed. He blinked once. Then twice. Shook his head slightly. Blinked again.

Impossible.

The figure in front of him didn't change. It was still the little girl that he loved like a sister. A sister, who, right now, was in pain. He knew her too well to not see past the barrier she had built.

And then he felt it in full force. Guilt. It washed over him in huge waves. Shame. _Regret._ He knew he needed to say something, to break the silence.

He opened his mouth.

She ran.

Just turned on her heel and fled through the doors, pushing past anyone in her way. And suddenly it was as though now someone had moved everyone could. Everyone but him. He heard a muted shouting but couldn't make out any words. He only just heard great thumping footsteps over the pounding of his blood in his head.

But he definitely felt the first fist as it landed on his jaw. And the second. And the third. The fourth sent him to the ground. He landed on the rug, still dazed, bemused. He couldn't feel anything, although he could see blood on his shirt. _Wait...blood?_

It was the blood that snapped him out of it. He looked up to see Sirius, Remus, Frank and the twins holding Cienna's brother and his friends back. _Her friends too._ They were fighting to get at him again but, in the rush, seemed to have forgotten their wands. They didn't seem to be able to get through the shield that one of his friends had put up but he wasn't going to bet on that.

But pretty quickly Ollie became the least of his worries. As he was struggling to his feet he was kicked. Hard. Right where it hurt a guy the worst. He keeled over, clutching where the foot had landed. After a minute he looked up, face contorted in pain.

"Evans! What in Merlin's beard did you do that for you crazy girl?" His love for her was for a moment hidden to him.

"What did I do that for? WHAT DID I DO THAT FOR? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU IMBECILE? HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO A GIRL WHO HAS BEEN YOUR FRIEND FOR YEARS? HOW DARE YOU SAY WE ONLY WANT TO BE WITH HER BECAUSE OF MONEY? HOW DARE YOU HURT THE PERSON WHO _ALWAYS_ STANDS UP FOR YOU, NO MATTER WHAT? HOW DARE YOU...YOU!" Lily ran out of words to express her anger but the message was pretty clear. He had messed up. Bad

James opened his mouth to try and defend himself but realised that he had nothing to say. Luckily for him he didn't have the chance to flounder hopelessly for long as the portrait opened. Everybody's heads spun round, think that it was Cienna. It wasn't.

It was Professor McGonagall. A very angry Professor McGonagall.

"What is the meaning of all this?" She looked around, trying to make eye contact with someone who would answer her. Nobody looked up.

"Speak, NOW!" Everyone flinched at the sudden shout, rustled about, then looked at James.

"Mr Potter. Would you care to explain why you are covered in blood and Mr Evenstar is looking at you like he would like to kill you very slowly...with his bare hands?" It wasn't really a question so much as a statement.

He swallowed, looked to Remus and Sirius. Remus looked away but Sirius gave just a tiny nod.

There was a crack of thunder outside. Rain pelted the windows in thick drops. _I hope she isn't out there. _

"Well Professor..."

(Cienna's POV)

A crack of thunder startled Cienna from her memories. Big fat drops of rain pelted her. Pretty soon she was soaked through and shivering, although she herself felt no cold. _Just another freaky thing wrong with me huh? _She shuddered.

Freak.

That was the word used to describe her by _them._ Her and her brother. A pair of freaks. Another shudder as a memory shot into her head.

_Her and her brother running through the meadow towards their house. Laughing, singing. Carrying pretty flowers in her hands to give to mummy. Racing each other to the doors, smiling when she won, then annoyance when she realised that he had let her win._

"_Mama, he's letting me win again." _

"_Liar."_

"_Am not."_

"_Are too." _

_She opened her mouth to speak again but caught his eye and burst out laughing instead. He joined her. _

"_What are you two giggling about now?" Their mother, young and beautiful with a carefree face, was smiling. _

"_Look mama, we brought you flowers. _He_ wouldn't carry them though." Accusation ran though her voice like an undercurrent. _

"_I'd look like a girl if I carried flowers, wouldn't I mama?" His little face shone with laughter. _

"_My son, a girl? Never. Even when carrying flowers you can still be a man. I carry your mother's flowers all the time. She has so many that..." But their father was cut off by his two youngest screaming his name._

"_PAPA!" Their father had been away with work for a few weeks and they were very happy to see him because every time he came back he always brought..._

"_PRESENTS!"_

"_Ooooh, papa did you bring me one?" She had already thrust the flowers at her mother and was looking up at her tall father._

"_Me first, me first." Her brother jumping about behind her._

"_Why you? Just because you're oldest doesn't mean you get everything first does it papa?" _

_He chuckled. _

"_Of course not my little wolverine. But just to make things fair, why don't I give you both your gifts at the same time?" The young children looked at each other, nodded and smiled._

_Their father reached behind him, picked up two little parcels and held them out, one to each child. _

"_Thank you papa." They chimed before eagerly ripping open the paper._

_Inside each parcel was a little cloth bag. They looked up, slightly bemused. Their father smiled fondly and whispered to their mother._

"_I told you those knots would slow them down!" Before waving his wand at the bags. The knots undid themselves and the children eagerly shook the bag's contents onto their hands. Then they gasped._

_On the palm of each of their right hands was a beautifully crafted ring. For her, a slim band of silver above which a very small circle of red amber lay, and below which three leaf shapes lay. On the far left of the leaves was one made out of the same reddish amber as the circle above. The one next to it was yellow and the one beside that was green. The colours looked a little like some of those muggle boiled sweetie things that she liked! All of these gems were encircled by an extraordinarily slender band of silver. She held the ring closer to the light and saw that inside the stones were flecked with lighter and slightly darker versions of the same colour. She thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen._

"_The red amber represents the fire inside our people, the yellow shows light we bring. The green represents our love of the outside world and all that lives in it and the silver represents our freedom, the most important thing we have. Keep this ring close at all times, little one, for it may prove to be a light for you in your darkest moments." Her father was oddly serious for once. _

"_Thank you papa." She clenched the ring in her small fist and lent up to kiss his check, then turned to look at her brother's ring. _

_It was just as wonderful as hers, but in a different way. It was a lot wider than hers was but was still made out of silver. It consisted of a single band that would wind round the back of his finger but then widened and split to create two semi-circles, on at either end. In the middle was a circle of silver. The circle overlapped the two ends, making three little gaps in the circle where the air could be seen through them. It looked like some sort of old rune. _

"_This symbolises the bond between you and your sister, my boy. The two loops represent you two as twins. The circle in the middle binds you. The circle shows love, friendship, family, strength and honour – all the things that bind and your sister together. The silver, as with your sister's ring, represents freedom, the most important gift we possess. Treat this ring with dignity and it will not fail you in keeping you true to your strength."_

"_You mean, I'll be strong like you papa?" His face was hopeful. _

"_One day, yes. But this strength is a different kind. Strength of mind, strength of will, strength of love, and honour and hope. You will be a rock all to lean on and draw courage from your strength. The strength to do what is right, no matter how hard it may be. Now, why don't you your sister's ring on for her, and she'll do the same for you." They did as they were told. "No matter how far away from each other you are, these rings will always bring you back to one and other, safe and sound." A tear leaked out of the corner of their father's eye. _

"_Papa, why are you crying?" She didn't like see people cry, neither of them did._

"_Why don't you come here and give your father a hug, hey?" He asked, his arms open._

_They ran to him, and then she looked up._

"_You too mama." Their mother joined in, smiling softly. And there they stayed, the four of them holding on to one and other, the twin's rings shining in the sunlight._

Cienna toyed with the ring on her necklace. Her brother had given it to her before...

Crack.

She jumped to her feet, slipping slightly on the wet grass, searching the bushes behind her for the intruder. Soon enough, it showed. A large, wolf like dog, pure black and sopping wet with curious coloured eyes. Grey, like the storm clouds overhead.

"Hey you, what are you doing out here in the rain? You'll get cold. Your fur's not waterproof you know."

The dog - _no wolf_ - moved closer to her. It was _huge. _Its shoulders came up to her waist, its head level with her shoulders. A normal person would have, should have, been scared by now. But she wasn't.

_Why should I be? _

She voiced her thoughts.

"You know, anyone with the slightest shred of normality in them would be scared right now. I mean, you're huge. And look like a wolf...a hungry wolf. But I'm not. And would you like to know why? It's because I'm a freak. A freak because I'm not scared of dying. But why should I be scared? A part of me died years ago, a part of my heart. And since then I've just been wandering round, broken and waiting. Waiting to die." A humourless chuckle. "Only death seems a long time coming."

The wolf-dog nudged her shoulder with its nose. She looked at it. The way it was looking at her, like it understood.

"But how can you understand? You don't know anything about me. Not even my name." The wolf whined.

"Look, it's Cienna...Cienna Evenstar. And now we need to find a name for you don't we, huh? You're a guy, right? You look like a male wolf." The wolf-dog barked.

"I'll take that as a yes. What about...Brutus?" The wolf-dog growled.

"What, I've always liked Brutus...Palidor then." A yelp. "It means knight. No, okay then. Theron means hunter, which would suit you, looking like a wolf and all that." The wolf-dog just gave her that_ look._

"You're hard to please aren't you?" She frowned, "Maybe you're a softie at heart. Cuddles, Cupid, Snuffles, Pepper...wait, Snuffles?" The wolf-dog's, no Snuffles', ears shot up.

"Snuffles. So you don't like Theron or Palidor or any of those _heroic_ names, but you like Snuffles? That's just odd." The she frowned again. "Says the girl who's talking to a wolf/dog thing."

Snuffles barked, sounding affronted.

"Where did you come from any way, hey? The woods?" She swallowed. "I've always liked the woods, even after _he..._" She sniffed, and Snuffles moved closer, pushing her down to the ground.

"Wait, what are you..." He answered her question before she even asked it by sitting behind her so she could learn against his side, then curling round her to place his head on his paws beside her lap. He closed his eyes.

"You're warm. How are you warm out in this?" It hadn't stopped raining and Cienna realised that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. _And I don't know the way back. _

She sighed. Snuffles' eyes opened. She could see the question in them.

"I don't know where I am." Snuffles didn't look worried about this. "Which means I can't get back. Although thinking about it, I'm not even sure if I should go back." At this Snuffles started to look a little worried.

"I could just stay out here. Or walk to the coast. I could get a little cottage on the cliffs, overlooking the sea. When it's sunny I'll go down and collect shells. It'll be quiet, peaceful. You could come too, if you wanted." Snuffles looked very worried by this point. Cienna smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile.

"Don't worry. I don't know why you don't want me to leave but I'm not going to. I have no money, and I can't walk to the coast. Anyway, I made a promise to my brother. And I don't break promises."

Cienna leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the rain drops hit her face. She counted them, one, two, three...

They stayed like this for some time, neither moving. But soon Cienna knew that she had to go back. Ollie would be worried. She sat up.

"I don't want to go back. I mean, I've spent so long believing that they were my friends, and now I find out that it's all because they wanted my money."

She shut her eyes for a moment.

"James always has known how to hurt me the worst. Him and Black." Snuffles' head went up. "Yes, Black seems to have learnt how from James. It's sad really. But then again, in a way this whole thing is good for me. Shows me that I shouldn't trust anyone who isn't related by blood, and maybe not some who are."

She opened her eyes and looked at the sky. The rain showed no sign of stopping.

"Better get going boy; I don't want to be stuck out here in the dark." She stood up, Snuffles doing the same, and swayed slightly, her hand going out to Snuffles' back to steady herself.

"Whoa, head rush." Snuffles whined again. "Hey, I'm fine boy, just went a little dizzy."

He didn't look happy.

"I'd better go now so I'll see you around sometime...maybe." She patted him on the head. "Bye Snuffles." He stood in the middle of the clearing, watching her as she walked back through the woods, trying to remember the way she had come.

xXx

Eventually Cienna found her way back to the school grounds. The rain had died down but the wind had picked up, blowing cruelly at her face. There was blood trickling from the cut on her temple. It had re-opened when she had walked into a branch, blinded by the rain. _Stupid girl._

She looked up at the castle. It seemed so far away and she didn't know if she could walk that far. The logical part of her brain told her that it wasn't really that far; that she had easily ran further when chasing after her brothers. Plus, she walked up and down here every day.

But that didn't seem to matter to her. For some odd reason she felt warm. She knew she shouldn't. Damn, she had been out in the cold, rain and wind for most of the day, she couldn't be warm. Unless...Suddenly it dawned upon her, stopping her inner babbling._ Hypothermia. _

Cienna knew what happened when someone got hypothermia. They got really cold, so cold that they started to feel warm. Then they would get confused and weak. Soon she wouldn't be able to walk and she would just collapse and eventually die.

Logic started to kick in. She knew she couldn't get to the castle, but she could get to Hagrid's if she tried hard. She turned and started walking to the little hut about a kilometre away from her. The ground felt like mud, trying to keep her feet stuck in place. The effort it took to move was incredible.

To keep her mind working she started counting her steps. She knew she would start to get confused unless she focused on something. And slowly, slowly the hut got bigger. 300 metres left, then 200. She just kept on putting one foot in front of the other. She didn't notice the rain picking up again. She didn't hear the thunder above her head. She didn't look up until she reached to two stone steps in front of Hagrid's hut.

She swallowed. She lifted one foot and placed it upon the first step, then the other. She repeated the process before her body could register how little energy it actually had left. Cienna stood still on the top step, trying to catch her breath. The little part of her mind that was still logical was amazed. _A little walk like that making me out of breath. I must be ill._

She stood on the step for a while, wondering why no one was answering. Then she realised. She hadn't even knocked. _Fool._ She raised her arm. Her hand, balled into a fist, was trembling. She had to knock before her arm dropped because she knew she wouldn't be able to raise it again.

Thump. Thump.

That was all she could manage before she blacked out. Her last thought before she fell. _I hope Snuffles got home okay._

When Hagrid opened the door two minutes later he found Cienna collapsed on his doorstep. His first thought ran through his mind in terror. _She aint breathin. _

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><p><strong>Poor Cienna's having a bad week. Thanks for reading.<strong>

**Megs**


	8. The Past Always Catches Up

**OCs are mine - nothing else is.**

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><p>(Ollie)<p>

"Well Professor we all had a...slight misunderstanding. Nothing...serious, no major problem just a...a misunderstanding." James trailed off, looking guiltily outside as a flash of lighting illuminated the sky.

"A misunderstanding, Mr Potter? Would you care to explain?" Professor McGonagall didn't look best pleased.

"It's a long story."

_Yeah, real long._

Professor McGonagall looked around the common room, and Ollie suddenly realised just how many people were in there. It must have been the whole house. He swallowed. The whole of Gryffindor had just seen and heard every cruel word directed to his little sister. It would be around the school in no time.

_Potter better start running 'cause when I catch him he's gonna wish he was being kicked repeatedly by Lily like he was a moment ago. _Ollie's black mood lifted slightly, just for a second. _The look on his face...Damn she has a good kick on her. He probably won't be able to reproduce._

_Shame._

Sarcasm ran in the Evenstar family.

"Potter, Evenstar. Go to my office. The rest of you, go do something useful instead of standing around gawping. Now scat." Professor McGonagall turned and strode out of the room, with the two named students trailing behind her.

Everybody else dispersed, going to give their friends in the other houses the news. 'Potters has shown his true feelings about that girl he talks with, you know, the ginger one. No, not Lily you idiot, the other one, last name begins with E or something...Never thought he had it in him to be so callous. When I say he was harsh, I mean it.'

Nobody noticed Sirius slip out of the common room.

xXx

"Explain Mr Potter." Professor McGonagall was seated behind her desk. James looked up; feeling the ice of the glare Ollie was sending him on the back of his neck

"Well Professor I was in the common room this morning with Padf...Sirius. We were going to have a practise session for Quidditch, because we want to win this year and to do that we need to beat Slytherin. Now although our team is of course much better than theirs, as I'm sure you will agree, we figured that a little extra practise couldn't hurt. Bulbry needs to work on his aim a little more and –"

"Mr Potter, get on with it. I don't want to hear about your Quidditch plans."McGonagall's lips drew into a thin line.

_Idiot._

"Sorry Professor. Well...where was I?" James looked flustered.

_Double idiot._

"The common room." McGonagall prompted.

"Cheers mate...I mean Professor. Yeah, so we were waiting for the others when Lilyflower...I mean Evans and, and Cienna came down the stairs. And so I asked Evans a question and she got a little angry and –"James took a deep breath.

"_AndIgotangryandsaidsomethingalittlemeantoCiennaandsheranoff._" A sheepish smile.

_Triple idiot. A little _mean_. Where's my wand..._

McGonagall looked confused for all of two minutes as she replayed the sentence over in her head. Then her checks grew red and her lips tightened again until they were white.

However, whatever she had been about to say was never said. The three of them jumped as the door was slammed into the wall. They spun round. Hagrid stood in the doorway, chest heaving, and a small bundle in his arms.

"Hagrid, whatever is the meaning..." Professor McGonagall started.

"She aint breathin. Ah can't hear 'er breathin. She aint dead Professor, is she. She can't be dead." He was sobbing, incoherent.

Ollie stood up slowly, a sinking feeling in his heart as he watched McGonagall run over to the giant who was weeping over the body in his arms. He saw a flash of red-gold, of pale skin.

_No._

"Hagrid, take her to the medical wing, now." Without another word he hurried off. McGonagall turned. But before she could say anything Ollie raced out of the room.

_No. No. No. _

He followed the trail of water through corridors and up staircases, skidding on the floor when speeding round a corner.

_No. No. No._

He could hear Hagrid's cries before he got to the hospital wing. He burst in, breathing in short, fast gasps.

"Mr Evenstar –" Madam Pomfrey started, but was not allowed to finish.

"Is she okay? Is she alive?" The frantic questions came pouring out.

"If you'll just take a seat –"

"MY SISTER IS IN A FRICKING HOSPITAL BED, APPRENTLY NOT BREATHING AND YOU WANT ME TO TAKE A SEAT. JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION. IS...SHE...ALIVE?"

A pause.

"Yes, yes she is," Ollie let out a relived sigh, "but only just. She's in a critical condition...Mr Evenstar, we cannot yet be certain if she _will_ live."

_No..._

"So if you'll be so kind as to let me go to my patient." Without another word the healer turned back towards her patient, the young girl motionless on the bed in front of her.

Ollie sat down next to Hagrid, setting himself up for a long night.

xXx

Ollie started as Madam Pomfrey stepped out from behind the curtains surrounding Cienna's bed. Hagrid had stopped sobbing hours ago, and had fallen asleep soon after. Ollie, however, had drifted into a state almost of meditation. He kept replaying scenes from his life over and over in his head.

"Can I..." But the healer interrupted him before he had even finished.

"She's not awake, and shouldn't be for a while. But she will live, Mr Evenstar, unless there are any further complications. And yes, you can go in. But call for me if anything changes." She let out a small sigh. She'd been in there for hours, working, hoping, healing, and now she was tired.

"Thank you." She nodded and walked away.

Ollie stood, but found he could not bring himself to move. _What if she doesn't wake up? I don't want my last memory of her to be one of her cold, lifeless._ Then he reprimanded himself for being so selfish. _Of course she won't die. She's strong._

He walked over to the curtains, moving slowly, cautiously. He stretched out a hand, still slowly, and pulled aside one of the curtains. Gathering his courage he slipped through the gap, not looking at her, closed the curtains again and sat down on a chair beside the bed. Then, and only then, did he allow himself to look up at her.

She lay on the bed, the whites covers pulled up over her chest, her arms laying on top of them. Her skin was pale, almost the same colour as the covers. He could see the veins at her wrists, her neck, and her temple. Pale, chapped lips, closed eyes. If he couldn't see the slight movement of her chest he would have thought that she was dead.

"You're an idiot, you know? Why did you run out in the rain? You're meant to be intelligent but you don't seem to show it a lot." He paused.

"But then again, you thought you'd find peace outside. You always have. You probably always will. And considering what Potter said to you, you probably didn't even notice the rain, did you? You're really unobservant sometimes, you know? Yeah yeah, I know, rich coming from me, the one who didn't notice you were at school until you sat next to me in the common room." A smile from him.

"To be fair, you started school a year before your age group. Going into the first year aged 10 instead of 11. And no one _said_ anything to me...that I heard. I still can't believe that you thought that I was ignoring you because it wasn't _cool_ to hang around with your baby sister. Ha! Since when have we cared what anyone else thinks?"

He sighed, looking at her, then reached out and clasped one of her hand, wincing at how cold it was. Anger started to build up inside him.

"McGonagall sent for Mum and Dad. They would have been here straight away but Max was in hospital again and Ade was on one of those practise hunting things that the aurors make the trainees do these days. If he knew he'd be here." Ollie swallowed.

"And as for your worthless friends, well none of them have bothered to come and try to see you. I wouldn't have let them, but it would have been nice if they had attempted to get in. Hagrid's here, as you probably can tell. I swear that man – well giant – can snore for Europe, let alone England!"

His eyes narrowed. He knew he'd have to speak about what Potter had said to her when she woke up.

_How dare Potter say something like that to her? He knows she still isn't over him. Merlin, I don't think she'll ever get over him. _

The _him_ they were all talking about was their brother.

_Cieron. _

Ollie's mind cast itself back into the meditative state it had been in half an hour ago. _Cieron..._

'_It was a beautifully sunny day. No clouds in the sky. The perfect day for..._

"_SWIMMING!" Ollie raced down the stairs and into the kitchen to find his older brother, Adrian, jumping up and down around their parents. Ollie joined in. _

_It was a family tradition. If the entire family was home and it was a beautiful day they would travel out to the lake and swim and laze about for the entire day. That was the best kind of day. The day the boys spent the whole of January and February and March and April and some of May waiting for. _

"_Can we go now?" Ollie._

"_Me and Ol can start and you can catch up." Adrian._

"_Yeah, we need to get the best spot." Ollie again._

"_Because it's a nice place. Could get crowded." Adrian._

_Their mother shook her head._

"_Calm down boys. Our spot isn't going to get taken. People rarely go there unless we invite them. The only easy way to get to the lake is through our land, and we haven't authorised access to anyone for today. So you can eat breakfast, then go and get changed." _

"_Yes Mama." They lowered their heads in shame. Their mother smiled._

"_Well then, as you're in such a rush, what would you gentlemen like for breakfast?"_

_The boys looked at each other. There was only one breakfast you could have on a swimming day._

"_PANCAKES." Then a pause, "Please." _

_Their mother laughed as she went off to relay this message to the house elves. Whilst she was doing this the boys raced upstairs to change into their trunks, banging on their siblings doors as they passed, yelling at them to get up, that they were going swimming._

_Their parents were in the dining room when they got downstairs, their mother staring dreamily out of the window, cross stitch in lap. Their father was reading the Daily Prophet. Seeing this Ollie remembered something._

"_Mama, what does authorised mean?"_

_Their father laughed fondly, getting up and patting Ollie on his head. _

"_It means we are giving permission for someone to do something, or for something to happen. In this case we are allowing people to cross our land to get to the lake." _

"_Thank you Papa." Their father smiled then turned and stiffened. Something caught his eye out of the window but at that moment Willow, one of the house elves appeared with a great POP, along with the breakfast. He shook his head, telling himself that it was just a bird._

_The four of them seated themselves, the boys pilling food onto their plates quickly and demolishing just as fast. They were both finished long before their parents and sat, squirming in their seats, inpatient to be off. Their mother sighed._

"_Your brother and sister still have to get up, get changed and eat before we can go, and I have to make up our lunch." The boys' faces fell at her words. Their father took note of this and said,_

"_Caleen, why don't you make up the lunch whilst the boys clean their teeth, then I take them to the lake with the food and you can bring the twins in a little while. I'm not sure how much longer these two troublemakers can last!"_

"_Alright then," their mother stood up, "but you better find us quickly if I go calling you." _

"_Always do dear." The husband smiled at his wife. _

_Just then they were interrupted by two little figures who were holding hands as they stood in the doorway. _

"_Good morning, my darlings. And how are you this fine day?" Their mother stood, joy showing openly on her face as she beheld the two twins. It was often said that they were had to have some sort of metal connection, because they always knew where the other was, what the other was doing, and could even feel what the other one was feeling. Their mother often wondered what would happen when they were in Hogwarts. She had no doubts that they would go; they had magic in their blood._

_Caleen pondered this and she walked over to them. It would have to be slow, they would have to get used to not spending every minute of the day with each other, even sharing the same room with each other. _

"_Very well thank you Mama." Cienna replied._

"_Is it true we're going swimming?" Cieron asked._

"_Yes my dear, we are. I've got to get the lunch ready so if you two sit down to have your breakfast and get changed we can be off. Your father and your brothers are going down now to save us a spot because the lake gets so crowded these days." Sarcasm._

"_Yes Mama." They chorused._

"_It's creepy how they do that isn't it, huh?" Adrian whispered to Ollie. Their father heard them and smiled. _

"_Boys, you better go and clean your teeth. We're a wasting time here!" Without another word they rushed up the stairs, pushing each other out of the way in order to be the first to the bathroom. Their father chuckled. _

"_Be good for your Mama, darlings, and I'll see you soon." He kissed each of them on the cheek and stole a strawberry off Cienna's plate. He walked out of the room to the sound of his youngest children's laughter. _

_In record time the boys had gathered at the front door, towels under their arms, swimming trunks on, a smear of toothpaste on Ollie's chin. Caleen licked her thumb and wiped it off. _

"_Be good, don't jump in the lake without your father, don't run ahead of your father, don't fall over, don't..." _

"_Caleen, I think they're going to be fine; they've travelled the woods before without either of us, and they're with me. It's the twins you should be worrying about!" Seeing the frown on his wife's face their father quickly backtracked, much to his son's amusement._

"_I mean, of course you shouldn't be worried, you're just as good as I am you just, haven't had so much practise with trekking lately. We don't just fly or apparate everywhere, we have to walk as well..." He trailed off to the sound of laughter. All of them turned to the doorway where the twins were standing, holding hands again._

"_See you in a little while, darlings." Their father said, picking up the basket with the lunch in. _

"_S'later twins." Ollie._

"_You better hurry up or you'll miss all the fun!" Adrian cried as they walked out of the door. _

_Cienna was still smiling but Cieron's face suddenly went blank. In a small voice he whispered two words that would haunt the family forever;_

"_Bye bye." _

A sudden noise startled Ollie. He noticed his face was wet; he'd been crying without realising it. He looked at his sister.

"It was like he knew what was going to happen." He murmured. "But that's impossible, isn't it?" He looked down, knowing that she wouldn't answer.

"Not necessarily." A whisper, softer than the wind, made his head snap up so fast that he heard his neck make a loud, unhealthy click. He winced, looked at the bed, rubbed his eyes and looked again. He couldn't believe his eyes. Cienna, eyes open, smiling slightly. Still pale, but alive. And awake.

Awake?

"You should be asleep."

"With all the mumbling you were making how could I stay asleep?" A twinkle in her eyes.

"I wasn't mumbling...was I?" He was unsure. He never could tell if Cienna was joking or not.

"I heard swimming and pancakes...and toothpaste. Why toothpaste?" Inquisitive eyes looked at him.

"Long story." He muttered. "But anyway, you're alive!"

"Ollie, last time I checked I was dead, you're talking to a ghost." Ollie smiled. Once the sarcasm was released he knew she was fine.

"Well now I know that you're good you're going to get yelled at, a lot." He took a deep breath.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you were doing, running off in the rain? You could have died. You had a severe case of hypothermia. Cee, you could be dead. Damn girl, you should be dead." At this she flinched. He wondered why for a second then realisation dawned.

"Cee I didn't mean it like that. I would never, ever wish you any pain. Not even a paper cut, let alone death. I just meant that it's practically a miracle that you are alive. Madam Pomfrey wasn't sure if you would live." He looked at her, pleading with his eyes for her to understand.

"I know Ol, I know. But I thought James was like that too. I ran to forget, so they wouldn't catch me." Her voice, miserable, was quiet.

"Who wouldn't catch you? Cienna what do you mean?" Worry laced his voice.

"No one. Just wanted to forget. No one's chasing me Ollie. Just, forget it." He could never refuse her anything.

"Okay." Simple. One word but the relief on her face pleased and worried him at the same time. Still, he put it out of his mind.

A few minutes of silence, then;

"We need to talk about Potter."

"His name is James, Ollie." Her voice was gentle, but still reprimanded him.

"His name is Potter. What he did was disgusting. But Cee, I don't believe that he meant it."

"It didn't seem like that when you were trying to hit him." Dryness in her voice.

"Yeah, well, spur of the moment thing. I hadn't had all night to think it all through, had I?" He grinned. "You should have seen Lily though. Kicked him straight in the ba...goolies." He remembered how his sister detested vulgar language.

"Did she now? Interesting."

"Which shows that what Pot, what James said about your friends is complete and utter rubbish. You can read people easily Cee, you know what he said wasn't true. He was just angry and bitter and needed someone to lash out at. If you weren't standing right in front of him then it would have been Sirius. You were just unlucky. And I know what he said was cruel and hurt because that's a subject that is always going to hurt. We, as a family, don't talk about it. And we need to. Maybe not to each other, but to someone." He drew a breath and glance at his sister. To most she would have seemed uninterested, but from the slight frown on her forehead, the way she caught her lip between her teeth, showed him that she was listening intently to every word he said. She trusted his judgement.

"What do you think I should do?"

"What do _you_ think you should do?" _Turning the question around is never helpful. I'm an idiot._

"Talk to him. Hear him out. I don't think he meant it either, Ollie. But what he said, we told him that in trust, in confidence, trusting him not to tell a soul. And he blurted it out to the whole common room. That's my problem." Not once during this little speech did her facial expression change. And that told Ollie that what Potter had said had hurt her. Was still hurting her.

"What he said, about Cieron – "

"No. Don't say his name. We're not going to talk about him Oliver. It's over. He's gone. Nothing is going to change that so what's the point in talking about it?" Cienna's voice was raised.

_Sigh...Wait, did I just sigh in my mind. That's cool. _

"We're going to have to talk about what happened sometime Cee. No one apart from you actually knows what happened. We _need_ to know." Ollie said, pleading with her to see reason.

"I'm tired. Goodnight Ollie." She blatantly ignored his last words, turning on her side. Ollie grimaced.

"Goodnight Cee." He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. Soon his breathing deepened and slowed down, sure signs that he was asleep.

Cienna stayed awake for the rest of the night, watching the sky lighten.

* * *

><p><strong>So we've got a little hint of what's been happening in the past. The whole story won't be out for a while though, but it will be told.<strong>

**Megs**


	9. An Idea

**Yeah, yeah. I'm a bad person. You don't want any excuses so as always, everything recognised is J. K. Rowlings 's.**

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><p>(Sirius's POV)<p>

The boys' dorm felt different. Colder. Claustrophobic. There were no more jokes, no laughs. No midnight wanderings. James was barley talking, just moping around. Remus was barley talking, just reading and sending angry glares over at James and Sirius every five minutes, James for what he said, Sirius for talking to James. And Peter was...well, Peter was just being Peter, which meant he was copying whatever the other three were doing. And Sirius was getting angry.

_It's been like this for two weeks, _Sirius thought._ Two whole weeks of being glared at wherever we go, by everyone. Remus won't talk to us. Stupid 'cause it's not helping him. The girls still won't talk to him. James is being a drip. All he has to do is man up and apologise. Easy._

Except it wasn't. James _had_ tried to say sorry. But he wasn't allowed anywhere near Evenstar. She was always surrounded by others. Her friends, her brother and his friends. Even other houses. Mainly because they were scared of Lily's right foot and Ollie's right fist. But still.

Sirius sighed as he lay on his bed, turned over and grabbed the first book he found. With nothing else to do he actually found himself revising for the first time in...Well, forever really.

xXx

It was about four in the afternoon when it happen. Sirius was still "reading" the transfiguration book and Remus was still reading and glaring. Peter was asleep.

"I'VE GOT IT!" James sat up suddenly and yelled. Sirius started up and hit his head on the book, Peter rolled off the bed and Remus' eyes widened.

"You _what?_" Sirius, slight tetchy.

"I know how to talk to Cienna." James, excitement shining on his face.

"Great, and you disturbed my revising because?"

James frowned. "You weren't revising Pads, you were snoring. And don't you see what this means? If I can talk to Cee I can say sorry and be forgiven and then everything will be alright again."

Sirius thought for a minute, then grinned and jumped on James, thumping him on the back whilst yelling about how cleaver James was and how he, Sirius, knew that James wouldn't let them down.

"What if she doesn't forgive you?" The voice of reason asked. The two boys stopped and looked at Remus.

"What?" They both asked simultaneously.

"What if she doesn't forgive you? She has every right not to. What you said was cruel. If I were her I wouldn't forgive you." Remus, obviously, was not overjoyed at the prospect of James talking to Cienna.

"She'll forgive me. She always does...She has to." James swallowed. "I...I don't know what to do if she doesn't." He looked so dejected that Sirius took pity on him and asked him about his plan to talk to her.

Apparently it was simple. Cienna often went outside during the night. Alone. So James would use his invisibility cloak, creep out and talk to her. Simple.

"I'll do it tonight. Best to do it as soon as possible." He said.

Remus spoke again. "And what if she isn't out there? What are you going to do then?"

James answered with steely determination in his eyes. "I'll go out every night until she does go out."

xXx

He found her sitting by the lake. She didn't hear him as he walked up. He was debating whether to announce his presence with or without his cloak on. With it on he was safer from any spells or slaps she might throw his way but she might not recognise his voice and get scared when he spoke, which would get him in even more trouble. She was just about to take off the invisibility cloak when she spoke.

"And it's all my fault." She whispered to herself.

James ,being James, just had to butt in after that.

"You see that's your problem Cee. You always blame yourself. This entire problem is quite obviously _my _fault. So stop saying that, kay." After he finished he winced, and prepared to doge any spells. However, he was pleasantly surprised when all she did was lift her head up and speak again.

"James."

"Cienna."

"Do you mind removing your cloak? I feel silly talking to thin air."

"Sure. It's kinda warm anyway." He yanked off the cloak and stuffed it into his pocket, then sat down a little way across from the young girl. They were quite for a little while. Then;

"It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it?" James said, appearing to look at the lake whilst watching Cienna out of the corner of his eye. She gave away nothing. Her face was a mask.

"You know," he said conversationally, "this is going better than I expected. I thought you might have tried to hit me before I sat down."

"I'm not big on violence." Her voice gave nothing away either. It was cool, indifferent. The sort of voice she used with Sirius. _But she hates Sirius which means...Ouch. That hurts._

"Yeah." He nodded, feeling like a fool. _Remus was right, this was a stupid idea._ He sighed and shut his eyes, feeling tired. He hadn't been sleeping very well. Even though Cienna wasn't being her usual self which meant that she wasn't forgiving him it was peaceful by the lake. _Just a few moments resting my eyes then I'll apologise. Just a few...moments...then..._

"James. James." Soft shaking and an even softer voice woke James.

"I'll be up in a minute mum. Just a minute." He rolled over and instead of being in his nice warm bed he felt like he was on stones. He rolled over and instead of falling on the floor he just kept on rolling. And rolling.

And rolling.

Until he stopped rolling.

And started flailing about in some very, very cold water.

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" His eyes shot open, and he found himself in the Black Lake. _How the Hogwarts did I get in..._He opened his mouth to scream as something very strong wrapped around his ankle and pulled him under.

_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. _He squeezed his eyes shut and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Then he opened his eyes and found himself hanging by his ankle above the stones that surrounded the lake. And then he found himself being dropped and landed, rather painfully, on dry ground.

"JAMES!" He opened his eyes to see Cienna fling herself upon the ground beside him and grab onto his hand.

"James, please tell me you're okay? Please, James." She was almost hysterical. He sat up and spat out a mouthful of water.

"S'all part of the plan." He said, his voice a little croaky.

"The plan?" She was almost sobbing.

"Yeah. You're talking to me now. It worked." He coughed.

Cienna looked completely dazed for a second and James wondered whether he was going to get the slap he had been waiting for earlier. Instead she flung her arms around him, mumbling about how stupid he was into his shoulder. Slowly he put his arms around her.

She paused and pulled her head back, looked him in the eyes and said, "This doesn't mean you're forgiven."

She then buried her head in his neck and carried on with her little rant but James wasn't listening. Instead he was grinning because he knew that despite what she had said, he was forgiven.

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><p><strong>I like James too much to keep him away for too long. Plus, when he's around it means Sirius is around! Hint, hint :)<strong>

**Megs**


	10. We're Growing Up, Honestly

**I am truely sorry for taking so long. And I'm sorry for the chapter being so short. But I'm starting another as soon as I upload this one. Once again, only the OC's belong to me.**

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><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

It was the beginning of November. The sixth years were struggling through piles of homework. Even the troublesome duo had been spotted in the library, looking for books, which was exceedingly rare. In fact, it was unheard of! Cienna was fine. She'd recovered from her illness and everything was back to normal. So of course, no one was surprised when the marauders came up to the girls on Saturday morning at breakfast.

What was surprising however was that they made no lewd remarks, no stupid suggestions. They just greeted the girls, sat down and started eating.

"Do you think they're okay?" Mary whispered to Lily. She shrugged.

"I don't know and don't care. But whatever may be the matter with them, I like it. They're peaceful." Cienna looked up from the Daily Prophet, glanced at the boys, then at Lily, and then went back to her reading.

They all continued eating in silence. It was too awkward to try and make conversation. Mary was just taking a sip of her juice when Lily said, with a raised voice,

"Right. That's it. What are you four planning? And you better tell me now otherwise I'll hex you into next week. And don't say you're planning nothing because you are. You're behaving unnaturally, quiet and...Well, nice-ish for once. And I can't stand it. It's making me cringe. So what's going on?"

This startled Mary and she spent the better part of the next five minutes choking on the pumpkin juice she had she inhaled, rather than swallowed, with Emmy patting her back with a rather large smirk on her face.

The boys turned, startled.

"Erh." James.

"Um." Peter.

"Oh." Remus.

"...Say again. I couldn't hear you over the coughing." Sirius said, sending a smirk over to Mary. She glared at him.

Lily glowered at him, but James opened his mouth before she said anything. Cienna winced, praying he wouldn't say anything stupid. _You're in enough trouble James; don't go making more for yourself._

"We figured it was time to grow up a little, Lily. It's okay if I call you Lily right? I've never asked before."

_James, why in the world did you say..._

_Wait. _

_What?_

_Grow up?_

_Who?_

_When?_

_Why?_

_And I repeat, WHAT?_

It seemed that the other girls were also in varying stages of shock. Mary had dropped her juice down her top. Alice's mouth was hanging open. Marlene was smirking. Emmy was grinning. Dorcas's fork had stopped halfway to her mouth. Cienna was still looking at the paper, but wasn't actually reading it. And Lily...

Well Lily was dumbstruck. Her mouth was wide open. Her eye brows were raised so high they almost vanished into her hairline and her eyes were also wide. She seemed to be trying to say something; her mouth was moving but no words were coming out.

Finally a single word came out.

"Oh..."

More silence.

"MERLIN!" shouted Mary. Everyone jumped, and then spun to look at her frantically dabbing at her juice stained top.

"Mary, how did you get juice down your top?" Dorcas asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, I thought you were meant to drink it, not bathe in it." Sirius said, smirking.

"Ha ha Black. Very funny." Mary glared at him.

"I try." He said, modestly.

"Mary, you're a witch. You don't need to bother with that napkin, just use magic to clean your top." Alice said.

"Huh?"

"Magic. You know, the thing that makes sparks come out of your wand and spells work. The reason you're here." Marlene chipped in.

"I know what magic is. I just...don't know the spell." She finished off in a mumble.

"Oh Mary, whatever will we do with you?" Emmy chuckled as she waved her wand. The orange stain on the blouse started to disappear.

"Emmy, I love you so much right now. Will you marry me? 'Cause we have McGonagall first and she'd have killed me if she saw that mess." They all laughed for a minute and then remembered Lily, who was still standing up with her mouth open, staring at James.

Alice clicked her fingers in front of Lily's eyes. She didn't move.

"Lily, if you can hear and understand us, blink please." For a moment nothing happened. Then Lily blinked.

Once.

Sirius snorted. Peter copied him, then started chocking as he swallowed air. Sirius, being ever helpful, slapped him on the back hard enough to send Peter face first into the table. His plate. His half full plate.

He raised his face, covered in porridge. Nobody made a sound.

Until Lily laughed.

And then everyone else started. Even Cienna smiled. Slightly.

* * *

><p><strong>Like I said before, I'm now going to start another one. It might even be on this evening if I'm lucky.<strong>

**Megs **


	11. Poking arms and Bleeding hands

**Two in one night. Hopefully I'm starting to make up for being silent for so long. OC's are the only things that are mine.**

* * *

><p>(Cienna's POV)<p>

He was poking her.

Again.

_Why do I get stuck next to the idiot?_

It was Black. All he had done for the entire first half of Transfiguration was poke her. Nonstop.

It was driving her mad.

Just because he was bored didn't mean she should have to be distracted. And they were learning about Animagi.

She mentally sighed. They were bound to be tested on Animagi. _Typical. Urgh, I'm gonna kill Black._

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing that insufferable trademark smirk whilst watching her. _He wants me to ask him to stop. No going to happen._

5 minutes later.

_Still not happening Black._

5 more minutes later.

_Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do..._

"Can you stop? Please." She said in a whisper.

_...it._

His smirk only widened. "Was that a mouse squeaking?"

Her lips tightened.

"Please. Can you stop?" She said, marginally louder.

"Getting better. More like an owl now."

"Black. Stop it now." Louder. He blinked before grinning like a maniac.

And standing up.

In the middle of McGonagall's lesson.

"Sorry to interrupt Minnie but I had to share the wonderful news with the class. I'm sure you have all been as worried as me about Little Miss Pipsqueak over here now being able to speak. But do not fear, for speak she can. Only now she uttered four words to me. Four whole words! It's a miracle. An absolutely incredible-"

"BLACK. GET OUT. NOW" McGonagall screeched. And then, to the class, "Write up notes on what I have just told you whilst I deal with Mr Black here." And with that she swept out of the room after Sirius.

The class waited in silence until she left, then burst into noise. All eyes seemed focused on Cienna and she could feel her face burning.

"Cee, you okay?" Lily's concerned face looked at her as she turned round in her seat to look at her younger friend.

"I'm going to kill him." She muttered, just loud enough for Lily to hear.

"Of course you will." Lily said, humouring her.

xXx

The rest of the lesson went by excruciatingly slowly for Cienna. She could feel stares burning into her back and she fought down the urge to flee the room. Black never came back into the room.

_I'm going to make him pay._

As soon as the bell went she stood up, sweeping her things into her bag.

"Are you okay?" Alice.

"Black's an idiot sweetie, ignore him." Marlene.

"He didn't mean to be cruel, I'm sure...I think." Mary.

She didn't answer, just started to leave the room. The other girls looked at each other, and then hurried to catch up with their friend before she did something she'd regret.

xXx

He was waiting outside the classroom, leaning against the wall with that stupid, ugly, idiotic smirk on his face. He straightened up as he saw her leave the room.

"Morning love. And how are you today?" He asked cockily.

"Black..." A warning from Remus, who could see Cienna was angry.

She looked up and down the corridor. No one was there, apart from her friends and the Marauders. She took a breath. _Don't do anything stupid girl._

"What? She won't do anything. She's as meek as a mouse."

_DO something. NOW._ She raised her wand as she half shouted,

"AVIS. OPPUGNO."

A flock of golden birds hurtled out of the end of her wand and flew like bullets towards Sirius. His smirk disappeared and he held his hands out but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at all of him that they could reach.

"And for your information Black, right now I'm feeling wonderful." And with that she walked off.

"Ouch. Wait. How in Merlin's beard do, ouch, I get rid of, ow, these? Wait...Ouch. Damn bloody birds. Ow, get off me." Sirius's voice echoed down the corridor after her.

Her friends looked at each other in amazement.

"Forgot to say, Black. Don't get Cee angry. She has a little bit of a temper. Have a great day." Marlene laughed as the girls hurried after their friend.

The door to McGonagall's classroom opened just after the girls left and the Professor left the room.

"Professor, can you help..." Sirius started, wincing.

The corners of her mouth turned up.

"Sorry Mr Black but I think it would be safer if you got Professor Flitwick to help you with that. He is a charms teacher after all. He should be in his classroom if you hurry." The boys turned to hurry off when she called after them,

"Tell Miss Evenstar she just earned Gryffindor five points. Her charms work is impeccable." She chuckled to herself. Good for the girl, biting back for once.

xXx

Emmy, Marlene, Lily and Cienna were sitting in the common room that evening. Lily and Marlene were doing homework, and Emmy and Cienna were playing chess. Everything was lovely and peaceful. The fire was burning bright in the hearth and the warm room had the satisfied feel of a cat with a bowl of cream. Emmy and Cienna were so into their game they didn't notice Remus and James sit down next to them.

"Evening girls." James said.

"I thought you said you were all growing up?" Emmy said, frowning, before finding a place for her knight to move to.

"Um, well, I am. Remus doesn't need to and as for the other two...Well; they'll mature when they do."

"Wise words Potter. When did you get so clever?" Emmy asked, before groaning. "How come you always win?" Cienna had just checkmated her king.

"I don't _always_ win."

"Nine times out of ten." Cienna shrugged.

"How about you have a game with Remus over here whilst I talk to my favourite sister who isn't actually my sister. Move over Cee, go on Lupey, grab that seat."

"Lupey?" Remus looked at his friend incredulously. "Really?"

"What? It's nice." James grinned. Remus shook his head and started setting up the chess board for another game whilst talking lightly with Emmy. Cienna smiled slightly for a moment. It was blatantly obvious that Emmy like liked Remus, and that he liked her. It was just getting them both to realise each other's feelings. It was something she and James had spoken about during their evening talks.

They were a new thing. Ever since James had said those things and Cienna had gotten ill he had made time to talk with her every evening. It was just idle chat, normally James' idle chat and Cienna just listening with the occasional input.

But this evening that was a little different. James pulled her over to the corner of the common room and sat her down, then pulled a chair across for him.

"I just wanted to say, you were blinking amazing earlier. Where did you even learn that charm? Can you teach it to me? 'Cause I know Padfoot's my friend and everything but it really kicked ar...Butt."

He looked so eager, like a little puppy that she couldn't help but smile. This was the James she loved.

"It's simple. I'll show it to you one night when no one's down here." She murmured.

"Brilliant. That way I can bully Padfoot into anything. Ha. We had to trail all over the school looking for Flitwick so he could remove the charm. Oh, McGonagall said you'd earned five points for Gryffindor Said your charm work was impeccable."

Cienna looked at him for a minute before smiling. A proper big smile. She couldn't meet his eyes.

"What's so funny?"

"Impeccable – im-_peck_-able." She was fighting not to laugh now.

"You have a weird sense of humour Cee." But James was smiling too.

The two childhood friends sat there, enjoying each other's company, unaware that they were being observed.

"They look happy, don't they?" Lily said to Marlene.

"Hmmm."

"James is really good for her, you know." Lily commented again, after a few minutes.

"HA! You called him James. Not Potter!" Marlene threw her parchment down in joy.

"Well, well, you see," Lily was getting all flustered, "Seeing as he was acting so grown up and mature I thought it would make sense if I started calling him his first name. More civil." She blushed.

"Uh huh." Marlene would have said more but the opening of the portrait hole and the entering of a certain Sirius Black stopped her.

"Watch out." She muttered to Lily, keeping an eye on Black as he crossed the room to where James sat with Cienna.

"This could end in trouble." Lily said, picking up her wand.

xXx

James was just recounting how they'd begged Flitwick to stop the charm, which included Sirius going down and begging on his knees when a shadow fell over them. They looked up to see James' best friend and partner in crime standing in front of them, his hands in bandages.

Cienna looked at his hands, and felt really guilty. She hadn't meant to really hurt him. Well, she had, but not so badly that he'd have to go to Madam Pomfrey. She risked a glance at his face. His face was relatively blank, which wasn't good. He was always smirking or smiling. And his eyes held a mix of anger, sorrow, pain and maybe a slight hint of betrayal.

She sighed very softly. She knew what she had to do.

(Sirius' POV)

He saw them as soon as he stepped into the room. His hands stung like hell and so did his pride. Made a fool of, by a girl no less. He wasn't going to live that one down in a hurry. All he wanted to do was go and fall down on his bed and sleep. But he couldn't just pass those two by.

So he didn't.

He walked over to them. To his surprise, and anger, they hadn't noticed him. And to make it all worse, his so called best mate was telling _her_ the humiliating story of him getting Flitwick to get rid of those damn charmed birds. He was getting ready to say something when she looked up. At his hands first, then his face.

He forgot what he had been about to say. The smile fell off her lips quick as lightning. Emotions flashed through her eyes, quick, fleeting. She sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you any pain." Her voice, quiet, rung in his ears. Of everything he had expected her to say, or not to say, sorry was not it. He hadn't in a thousand years expected her to apologise.

_I should say sorry too. Wait, where did that come from. I never apologise, apart from to James or Remus every now and again. _

_Still, I should say sorry._

But by the time he finished his mental ponderings she had gone.

He looked at James.

"Where'd she go?"

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><p><strong>Cienna showing some spirit. Yay! More soon.<strong>

**Megs**


	12. It's a start

**So, after a year and a half I'm back again. Thanks to a message I'm back into the swing of things, although school is hellishly busy so I might be slower with updates. Only the OCs are mine.**

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><p>(James' POV)<p>

"Where's she go?"

"I dunno mate. Upstairs probably. I think you freaked her out a little. You do know you were staring at her, right?" James asked, raising his left eyebrow.

"Erh..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." James stopped for a minute, and then thought of something. "How're your hands?"

"Sore."

"Yeah, that's what I thought again. Do you know what? Cee's said she'd teach me the spell that she used on you. And I'm sure she'll teach it to you as well. Well, maybe not...but I'll teach it to you."

Sirius sighed and turned to go upstairs.

"Wait, Pads. Where're you going?"

"Upstairs."

"But why? It's early."

"Why do most people go upstairs, Prongs? I'm tired and my hands hurt." His voice held a tinge of reproach and betrayal in it.

"Pads. You do know that if I knew how, I would've stopped her." _I think..._

"Do I?" _What's his problem?_

"Actually, I don't know if I would've. You did kinda deserve it mate."

Sirius glared at him. "All I wanted to do was to get her to talk to me. Not charm a flock of bloody birds with a serious vendetta against me to follow me all day. And what's everyone going to say tomorrow, huh? Sirius Black, ridiculed, by a girl. A girl younger than him. A girl who no one's ever heard speak. I'm going to look like a fool."

_Ah._

James pondered over this for a little bit; Sirius standing impatiently, shifting from foot to foot. Then James thought of something to say. _He could hex me, or laugh with me. Either way, it'll make him feel better._

"Well, if it makes you feel better mate, you did get her to talk to you." James deadpanned with a completely straight face.

...

Sirius just looked at him.

_Oh Merlin, he's going to kill me._

With a murderous expression on his face.

James closed his eyes.

_I'm dead._

A minute passed.

Then two.

_Why am I not dead? Or maybe I am. If I am dead then dying is much easier than I thought. Ha, I felt nothing. Wait...I can't be dead, I need to marry Lily first._

He opened his eyes. Sirius was still staring at him. As was everyone else in the common room.

And then Sirius started to laugh.

And James joined in.

xXx

(Cienna's POV)

She heard laughter from downstairs. James' laughter and someone else's. It was deep, and sounded a little like a dog barking.

_Black._

_Would make sense._

She smiled slightly, picked up a book and settled down on her bed to read. Before she started she looked out of the window.

_It's a beautiful night._

xXx

The next day dawned grey and miserable. Sleet was falling in heavy sheets outside, promising a soaking to anyone who dared venture outdoors. The girls got up slowly, unwilling to brave the frigid Scottish temperatures. Hogwarts didn't have heating in the dorms unless someone used a spell. Which Mary promptly tried.

Unsuccessfully.

Instead of heating the room, she heated the water in the shower. This resulted in a shriek.

Lily was in the shower.

She came out of a steaming bathroom not 5 minutes later, looking like a boiled lobster, glaring daggers at Mary.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you were doing? You almost boiled me alive." The girls winced and Cienna slipped into the bathroom, taking advantage of the momentary distraction. The bathroom was a hot commodity in the room full of girls; everyone wanted to use it in the mornings. As she turned on the shower and tested the water Cienna could hear Mary asking how Lily knew it was her.

"Because you're the only one who'd try a spell with somebody else's wand!" Lily nearly shrieked.

A few moments paused, and then Cienna heard Mary mutter.

"Oh."

She smiled fondly to herself.

xXx

(Sirius)

They got into the Great Hall, sat down and started eating before James realised that the love of his life wasn't there.

"Where is she? She's _always_ down before us? I make sure of it so that she can admire me walking in like everyone else does. Even McGonagall admires use when we walk into a room." James' head was swivelling around, this way and that, looking for his future red-headed wife.

_Um right, James plans this. Strange boy._

Sirius lifted a piece of toast up to his mouth but paused.

_Wait, McGonagall has a thing for us. Didn't seem that way yesterday. Maybe it's suppressed love._

_Hm. Note to self: Watch out for McGonagall giving me the _look_. If she does, run away quickly._

_Don't want another repeat of the time with Great Aunt Hilda._

_Still have nightmares._

Sirius looked at his toast again, and then pushed away his plate. He'd lost his appetite. Remus glanced at the half-full plate and was about to ask Sirius if he was feeling alright, considering he normally never stopped eating, but James cut him off.

"Ah, there they are. Lily doesn't look happy. Maybe she's angry that she missed me walking in. I told you lads, she loves me. She just can't admit it." James smiled happily to himself but shut up when Marlene sat next to him.

_Still trying to act mature._

_He's got no hope._

"What's wrong with Lily?" Remus whispered to Alice.

"Nothing's wrong with Lily, thank you very much Remus. And I can still hear, you know. I'm not deaf, although Mary obviously thinks that I have heat proof skin!"

She got up.

"Come on, we have potions next. And I for one will _not_ be late." And with that she stalked off.

"Seriously, I didn't mean to do it. I just picked up a wand from my bedside table. Not my fault it wasn't my wand. Who puts their wand on someone else's table?" Mary complained, picking up some toast before standing.

Emmeline shook her head.

"It wasn't your bedside table, Mary, it was mine."

"Oh."

The boys just looked at each other in confusion before Marlene took pity on them.

"Mary tried to heat up our dorm this morning. Unfortunately she picked up the wrong wand and heated the water instead. Whilst Lily was in the shower. Suffice to say, Lily was not best pleased."

Sirius smirked as he got up. Mary was a brilliant quidditch player but pretty clueless when it came to magic.

The 6th years found themselves walking along the corridors together, following Lily. Sirius and James winked at each other when they noticed Remus walking with Emmeline, discussing some new book or something. Mary started a conversation with James about when the first quidditch match was. Dorcas and Marlene listened to the quidditch fanatics, asking a question occasionally but looking more confused after they received an answer than they had before. Alice and Frank were holding hand, gazing into each other's eyes dreamily. They didn't notice people hurriedly scurrying out of their way.

Sirius chuckled. Cienna glanced up at him before looking away. Sirius wasn't sure what to do. They'd found themselves walking at the back together and whist things were easier between them than they had been at the start of the term, meaning that at least 20 words had been exchanged between them, they weren't exactly friends.

However, Sirius had made a bet. And he wasn't going to get anywhere by staying silent.

"That charm you used yesterday. It was impressive. I haven't seen it before." Her eyes flickered up to his face, and then went to the floor again. "Be useful to use on Snivilus...and maybe a few other well deserving snakes."

For a moment Sirius thought he wouldn't get a response. _At least I gave it a go._

"It's pretty simple. Two separate charms – we haven't learnt them in class yet. But I could show you, if you wanted." She paused for a moment. "James wanted to learn it too. He probably had the same idea in mind as you." The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

Inwardly, Sirius was cheering. Outwardly, he remained calm.

"That'd be great, thanks." He flashed her a smile that normally made girls weak at the knees. It didn't work.

_Thank Merlin. She might have collapsed. And that would've been awkward._

She didn't say anything but her little smile stayed put on her face. Sirius figured that was enough for one day. It was better than nothing.

It was a start.

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><p><strong>Aw. Mary reminds me of myself - oblivious! Thanks for reading.<strong>

**Megs**


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